Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!
by Zatrion
Summary: We all know the story of Kingdom Hearts II. Now, see my take on it. Featuring new characters and new worlds. Chapter 11 is up!
1. Back to Hollow Bastion

Zatrion Present:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 1: Back to Hollow Bastion

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

"The King, Riku – and now I lost Kairi again, too." Sora looks down at the floor of the Gummi ship, his sorrow coming forth. Behind him both Donald and Goofy look at him.

"Don't be sad." Donald tries to cheer up Sora, but his voice shows his lack of enthusiasm.

"Donald's right, you know! Why, you're the key that connects everything!" Goofy is far more hopeful, and is trying to cheer up the Keyblade Master.

With a sigh, Sora continues to look down at the floor. "So it's all MY fault."

Shocked, Goofy replies, "Gawrsh, I didn't mean that. Just do what comes natural to ya and we're sure to find 'em."

"You said it!" Donald reaffirms Goofy's statement.

With a sigh, Sora finally looks up from the floor. "Thanks, guys." Taking control of the Gummi Ship, he is about to head out when he receives a message from Chip and Dale.

"Oh, no! Hollow Bastion! It's all covered in darkness!" Chip's voice rings through the speakers of the Gummi Ship.

"You're right, Chipper! Uh, I wonder what's going on?" The red-nosed chipmunk is in a state of shock.

"Sora! We better hurry and check it out right away!" With that, the intercom on the Gummi ship shuts off, leaving the three heroes more determined.

"Let's go!" Sora cries. With a push of a button, the trio set off to Hollow Bastion to stop the oncoming darkness.

**KHIIR**

When the three heroes arrive back in Hollow Bastion, they land behind the nearby Accessory shop in the marketplace. Taking a couple of steps forward, they are surprised to see a small squad of Soldier Heartless walking in front of them. Not even taking notice of them, the Soldiers fade away into there small spheres of darkness.

"Do you think…?" Sora starts to say.

"Looks like there's more Heartless now." Goofy has his hand under his chin, thinking on how this is possible.

Donald shakes his head in agreement, as does Sora. They soon are surprised again with an emergence of Dusk Nobodies. Donald sighs, while Sora goes "Let's go check in with everyone."

"I think they're at Merlin's." The anthropomorphic canine replies. Sora once again nods. The three head down into the Marketplace. While Donald and Goofy went to look at any possible items that they may need, Sora notices a man leaning against a wall, his head crooked down. Walking back to see if the two grabbed anything, the three walk on over to the Borough. When they get in close, they recognize the man. His outfit may have changed, but his demeanor just says…

"Oh, Cloud!" Sora exclaims.

Cloud finally looks up, and notices the three standing next to him. Taking time acknowledge them, he tilts his head back down.

"Whatcha doing?" Donald looks at the spiky-haired man.

Without looking up, Cloud replies, "I'll get him. This time, we settle it. Me, and the one who embodies all the darkness in me."

"I thought you looked kinda different, Cloud." Donald is taking note of his new wardrobe. He has gone to wearing all black, instead of the small variety of colors from when they last met.

"If I do, it's his fault." Cloud is still looking down at the ground.

"Whose?" Sora asks him.

"Sephiroth. Tell me if you see him." He still hasn't taken his eyes of the ground.

"Okay. What's he look like?" Sora waits a short while before he gets the answer.

With his eyes closed, Cloud begins his description. "Silver hair. Carries a long sword."

Sora thinks _Isn't he the one that I fought back at Olympus Coliseum during my first adventure? And Cloud wants to face him? Cloud's good, but is he that good?_ "Sure. Well, be seeing you, Cloud."

Looking up at Sora, Cloud speaks. "Be careful. He messes with your head, makes you think that darkness is the only way."

The three are getting ready to head over to Merlin's when they hear an airy voice. "Is something wrong?" The three, plus Cloud, turn to see a woman in a pink dress.

_Ah, no. Why now? _Turning away, Cloud tries to walk away. Sora is in a small state of shock, and the other two are just standing there. _Of course, she has to follow me._ Turning around he says, "It's nothing." Aerith answers with a "hmm?" "I don't want you involved." Cloud is trying to dissuade her.

Aerith places her hand under her chin, as if examining Cloud. "You mean you don't want me there when you go away again?"

"I just… "Cloud pauses for a moment, trying to think of an answer. "Listen, even if I go far away, I'll come back."

"Do you mean it?"

Looking away from her, Cloud replies with a low "Yeah."

"See? You don't look so sure." Aerith looks into his eyes and sees that he has to do this. "Well, okay, I understand. Go, get things settled."

"Huh?" Cloud's response is soft, but heard by the group.

With her eyes filled with determination, Aerith speaks. "No matter how far away you are… once you found your light… I'm sure it will lead you back here again. Right?"

"I suppose."

"So I'll stay here, and I'll cheer for you… Okay Cloud?"

"Okay." With that, he walks off towards the Borough.

Wonder if he'll be okay?" Aerith once again has her hand under her chin.

"He'll be fine." Sora walks up to her, giving her that reassurance. "I'm sure there's some light in him somewhere."

"You're right." With that, she head off to the Borough herself.

Turning around, Sora looks at Donald and Goofy. "You think there's something between Aerith and Cloud?"

"I dunno. Seems like it." Goofy now has his hand under his chin, thinking about what just happened.

"But why would Cloud try to avoid Aerith?" Donald begins to tap his foot, trying to figure it out.

"Should we ask one of them?" Sora is beginning to move towards the set of stairs that lead into the Borough, his arms behind his head.

"That wouldn't be right, Sora. That would be muddling in other people's business." Goofy walks alongside him, with his gangly style.

"That's MEDDLING, Goofy. Besides, he's right, Sora." Donald is now following them.

"But you're just as curious as I am. Why else would you ask that question?" Sora looked back at the magician.

"It was rhetorical, Sora."

"Really? So you were tapping your foot because…"

"I felt like it."

"Come on. Admit it, you are curious."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Sora!" Goofy points ahead of the arguing two. They stop to see that they almost walked into a small group of Heartless. The small group is made of two Shadows and one new type they have never seen before. The three pull back and pull out their weapons.

"THUNDER!" Donald's spell is cast, hitting all three. Two are damaged, but one of them shines, showing that it is immune to the magic. "What?" The duck avoids three fireballs that the new Heartless shoots out from its book. Goofy jumps in and smacks all three of them with a Tornado attack. This destroys the Shadows, and weakens the new Heartless. Sora Jumps in, and with a strong downward slash, destroys this new threat.

"Stupid Heartless." Donald gives out a very loud raspberry. He would want to take it back since that little taunt caused more Heartless to appear out of the darkness. "Ah, phooey." With that, their battles began again, with more of those new Heartless. Instead of using Thunder, he tries to use Fira and Blizzard. And as before, the spells do nothing to those Heartless, except get their attention. With them distracted, Sora jumps up, and in a flurry of moves, slices up two of those new Heartless. However, he misses one, and it manages to smack him with its large book. Sora flies back, only to rush back forward, hitting the Heartless with multiple hits, before spinning the Keyblade around and slamming down on its hatted head. This final strike makes the Heartless disappear in a cloud of black smoke.

"We really should hurry over to Merlin's. Aerith probably told them that we were here." Goofy continues down the road to Merlin's home. The other two catch up to him as they enter Merlin's.

When they enter, they see Cid at the computer and Yuffie beside him. Hearing their footsteps, Cid turns around. "Hey fellas, you're just in time. Got some good news for ya, so get yerselves over to Leon's."

"What kind of news?" Sora looks to both Cid and Yuffie in anticipation.

"We found the computer Ansem was using!" Yuffie's grin is infectious, passing over to Donald.

"Oh boy!"

"Yep. Should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization." Even Cid can't hold back his grin.

"And maybe something on the dark realm, too?" Sora is anxious to hear the answer. "It sounds like that's where Riku and Kairi are."

"And the King." Donald adds in.

"Go see for yourselves." All the while, Cid chews on that piece of straw in his mouth.

"It can't hurt." Once again, her smile is there, but it seems to be hiding something.

"What do you mean?" Sora is a bit curious on what is going on.

Cid decides to cut him off. "Nothin'. Just get to the computer room through the castle postern. Watch your step!"

"Right!" With this new info in hand, the trio head out of Merlin's.

**KHIIR**

Well, this is my first chapter of KHII: the REMIX! I know this is just a lot of filler, and essentially a rehashing of what already happened in the game, but I have to get through this in order to get to the good stuff. So, bear with me.

Feel free to review and critique.


	2. Ansem's Study

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 2: Ansem's Study

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

"So, what do you think will be on Ansem's computer," Goofy looks over at Sora and Donald.

"Well, Cid said that it probably held stuff for the Organization and the Heartless," Sora says while he itched his chin. "So, it's a good start."

"What about the King," Donald looks ahead. "We've been looking for him for a while, and it might know where he is."

"And you mentioned Riku and Kairi as well, Sora," Goofy looks at the Keyblade wielder. "It could find them, too."

"Yeah, you're right, Goofy. Let's go." Sora takes a few steps ahead, only for a few small puffs of Darkness to show up. "Come on! Give us a break." Sora pulls out his mystical Keyblade, and attaches the Follow the Wind keychain to it. It changes shape, going from its regular key-like state to something a bit longer, and the key notches replaced with something akin to an anchor. Looking back, Sora notices that Donald and Goofy got their weapons out as well, ready for battle. "Jiminy, you know what types of Heartless they are?"

Jiminy leaps up from one of Sora's pockets, holding his journal open and looking at the Heartless Bestiary. "Well, there's a Soldier one, they seem pretty easy. But those ones hovering are called Bookmasters. They seem pretty tough, and are immune to all types of magic. Be careful." With that, Jiminy leaps back down into the pocket, hiding from the ensuing battle.

"Ah, phooey. Immune to all magic. They haven't tasted my Comet spell yet." Donald looks at the newly christened Bookmaster Heartless, then back to the Keyblader. "Sora!"

"Donald!" Grabbing the anthropomorphic duck, Sora tosses Donald in the air. Within a moment, the duck is floating in midair in a small sphere, with literal fireworks shooting out of his staff weapon. The small flurry of fireworks do their intentions, damaging the Soldier and the Bookmasters. Soon enough, more and more fireworks shoot out, damaging the Heartless even more. The last small batch fully destroys the Soldier, and the two Bookmasters are heavily damaged. Donald cries out, "Take that," and a massive amount of fireworks shoot out, obliterating those remaining Heartless.

Donald lands, albeit roughly on his rump. "Well, Comet works," he manages to chuckle out while holding up one feathered digit. He soon falls on his back, due to his magic power being drained for the moment. Panting, he gets back to his webbed feet.

"Yeah, but having to use it just to get rid of Bookmasters? Let's just save Comet for a lot tougher enemies." Sora has his hands on his knees, and is also panting in exhaustion. The Comet spell also took all of his magic power. However, both his and Donald's magic is slowly returning. After a few moments, they seem good as new. Helping Donald to his feet, Sora takes the lead, heading towards the Postern. Along the way, they encounter more Bookmasters, as well as Shadow and Soldier Heartless.

Soon enough, the three of them are in the Bailey, where they officially met the remaining Organization XIII members. While the three make their way to the Postern, they pause when they hear, "Excuse me, are you with the Restoration Committee?" The three of them turn to see the source of the dainty voice, but really see no one… that is until three small little fairy-like girls float up to their faces, before pulling back into a group.

The one in the front, garbed in white and blue, asks, "What's Leon's gang up to?"

Sora, without even giving it a second thought says, "They've got stuff to do over by the castle postern." Of course, neither Donald nor Goofy stop him from saying it, since they are still somewhat observing the fairies.

The one clad in white and blue turns around, looking at the other two. The one to her left, clad in orange and yellow, floats up a little higher in the air in glee. "Scoop!"

Sora, completely oblivious, goes, "Huh?"

To the right of the blue and while fairy is one clad in black, all the while with her arms crossed, finally speaks. "Let's report." He voice matches her stance, showing nothing but business.

Donald cocks his head to the side, curious. "To who?"

The one in blue and white turns sideways, so that she can turn her head towards our three heroes. "Our leader, of course."

The one in orange continues on, albeit now wanted. "Yeah, you know, Malefi-," Her last word cut off by the one in black covering her mouth. Of course, the orange fairy girl tries to continue speaking, but her voice remains muffled. All the while, our heroes look at the three, with a sense of curiosity, and perhaps suspicion.

The one in black looks towards them, and tries to calm them. "Don't mind her. I assure you, we come in peace." To acknowledge that, the orange one, her mouth still muffled, nods. However, the one in blue, the supposed leader, doesn't really buy into it.

"You're kidding." Of course, the one in black, takes some offense to it, and releases the one in orange, before turning to the blue one. "Problem?" After a small bit of silence, the black one gives a slight nod. "Okay, fine. You do the talking." With that, she disappears in a small explosion of red color.

The blue fairy turns back to the three and takes a big bow, rather embarrassed. "So sorry about this!" She too vanishes in light, only hers is blue in color.

The orange one says nothing, but gives a wink, and also vanishes, her light a yellow.

Now, Sora looks towards Donald and Goofy, before shrugging his shoulders. Yet, he taps on one of his pockets, bringing back out Jiminy Cricket. "Jiminy, you know who they were?" He puts a finger out, so that the small journal-keeper can jump on.

Jiminy leaps onto Sora's finger, which is put up to Sora's eye level. He then jumps onto Sora's shoulder, before grabbing his journal and opening it. Turning the pages, he eventually finds the right spot. "Here we are. The one in blue was Yuna, the one in orange was Rikku, with two k's mind you, and that last one in black was called Paine. That's all that I got for them." With a leap, Jiminy goes into one of Sora's pockets on his hooded shirt.

Goofy itches just below his hat, before finally speaking. "You know, something about those three seem really familiar. I just don't know how." He looks back to see Sora and Donald moving farther ahead, and rushes to catch up to them. By the time he does, another battle has begun, this time with four Heartless that the group has never seen before. He leaps into the fray, his shield smacking against one of the creatures. However, the four are soon defeated, due to Sora leaping into the air and using a new move called Rising Sun.

Continuing along, they encounter more of those new enemies, as well as another new type. While the ones previous looked like armored knights (hence their name,) these ones were green and massive, with spikes coming out of their metallic shells, and spiked club-like hands. Because of their look, they are referred to as Morning Stars, and added to the journal, along with the Armored Knights. Soon enough, they pass through the Restoration Site, defeating the Heartless along the way, and arrive at the Castle Postern.

Once arriving at the Postern, Sora calls out, "Leon!" Off to the side, he hears Aerith's voice saying, "Over here!" He looks over seeing her wave, and along with Donald and Goofy, walk over to her. By the time they meet, the excitement is overwhelming for the three adventurers. "You guys found Ansem's computer?" Just by the sound of his voice, you could tell Sora is eager to find out.

"Uh-huh. The King is very interested in it." Aerith's words are small enough, but the notation behind them sets off the three standing in front of her.

"The King?" Donald is incredulous, being the first to speak.

"He's with Leon." With those three words, it seemed that all would be well, and the actions of those three, especially with Donald and Goofy.

"We get to see the King!" By now, Donald can't hold back his joy. Goofy shows his joy by saying "Hooray!"

Sora looks back at them, happy for them. Still, he still needed to ask a question himself. "Er…Is Riku with them?" When he sees Aerith shake her head 'no', his head lowers. From what he could tell, the King was with Riku. Why weren't they together now? Still, he makes a comment, mostly to himself. "Well, at least I can still ask the King about him. And that computer might be able to tell us something." That last part is heard by Aerith, who gives a somewhat energetic "Good idea!"

Aerith turns to the side. "They're right through there." Sora follows Aerith's line of sight, seeing a doorway within the brick-laden wall, leading inside the castle itself. However, before entering the are, Sora looks around, and notices the various chests scattered around. Taking his Keyblade, he opens each one of them, to reveal a map, a Mythril Gem for the Moogles, and one of those Boost items. Pocketing them, Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter the Corridors of the castle.

When the three adventurers first step inside, they look around. Yet, they remain relatively unaware of a little guest on the ceiling. It isn't until it begins scuttling around the ceiling that they look back, but by then it is too late to see it. Shaking free, the three go down the corridors, facing off against another new Heartless (in the form of the Surveillance Robot), while also collecting the items from the various chests strewn about, some of which had some desperately needed healing items. Soon enough, the find themselves in front of a door. Opening it, they find themselves in Ansem's Study. Though none of them say it, they are all thinking the same thing; 'What a mess!'

Taking a look around the room, they find a lot of charts, beakers and the like, along with a giant portrait of their old foe. "Ansem…" The three of them walk a bit closer to the giant painting. Goofy looks at the paining. "Gawrsh, I guess this must be his room." Meanwhile, Donald takes another look around the room. "Where's the King?"

Sora cups a hand around his mouth. "Hello," he calls out, wondering who would answer. He does get an answer, but not quite the one that he expected.

"Hey, you!" The three turn around to the source of the feminine voice, to find a woman clad in black at the threshold of Ansem's room. With her arms at her side, and her fists against her hips, you could tell something was up. Looking around, she then turns her attention back to our heroes. "I'm looking for somebody. Have any of you seen a guy with spiky hair?" He points a finger out from her hairline, to prove her point. To her amusement, Donald and Goofy look to Sora, who touches a strand of his relatively spiky hair. She chuckles, before responding. "Spikier." The others shake their head, not know who she was talking about. "I'll just take a look around."

Taking her time, the woman checks each of the walls, underneath the lone desk, amongst the books, all to no avail. Finally touching one bare wall, she rears back and kicks it with quite a bit of fervor., enough to shake the room that she and the heroes were in. She turns to the three, giving a half-hearted shrug. "Sorry to have bothered you." She then walks out of the room, being saluted by the three and given a 'No bother, ma'am.' She then closes the door behind her, which lets the three breathe a small sigh.

"So you made it." Sora, Donald, and Goofy turn around, to find Leon leaning against the bare wall. "Leon!" Sora's voice shows his excitement. Leon pushes himself off of the wall, and gives a small nod towards the three. The three walk to him, grabbing a synthesis recipe lying around.

"Isn't the King with you?" Sora is a little confused. Leon was alone, and the King was nowhere in sight. Leon responds with a finger to the lips, as a sing of them being quiet.

"You'll see him soon enough." Apparently, Leon's statement doesn't sit well with Donald, who gives him an indignant 'Hey!'. However, Leon is ready for this. "Here, this ought to tide you over." Turning around, he places his hand over one small section of the wall, which then shines. A light shines, showing off invisible edges to the wall. The wall soon vanishes, revealing another hallway. The three are somewhat stunned. Leon turns back to the group and explains. "Ansem's computer room."

Before Leon can go any farther, Sora asks something. "You know who that was earlier?"

"That was Tifa. She's friends with Aerith, Cid and Yuffie. Although, she seems a bit changed." Leon walks towards the computer room. "Last I heard, she was looking for someone. I don't know who, but it's been a while." He soon enters the room, and finds the three at the computer not that long after.

"This is it!" Sora looks at the computer, almost salivating in anticipation. "Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?" He presses a few buttons, before slapping his open hands down rather forcefully onto the keyboard.

This catches Leon's attention. "Easy…You want to break it?" Both he and the group of three are unaware of their extra guest, who is climbing up the wall and onto the ceiling.

That question breaks Sora out of his keyboard slapping shtick. "Oh, sorry. Guess I got a little carried away." He puts a hand behind his head. However, he is broken out of that by Goofy's yelp. He looks back, to see Goofy looking upwards. Sora also does so, and sees their new guest, a strange furry blue beast on the ceiling.

The beast loses its grip on the ceiling, and drops… right onto the keyboard. Of course, Donald doesn't take this too well. "Get offa there!" Without thinking, the mallard leaps onto the keyboard himself, chasing the creature. Unfortunately, the creature leaps out of the way, and launches itself off of the back of Donald's head. Obviously miffed, Donald turns to face the blue pest, only to signal an alarm from the computer.

The computer alarm is accompanied by a rather eerie voice that didn't seem… human. "Attention current user: This is a warning. Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action." Meanwhile, our three heroes are looking around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who's there?" Sora asks.

"I am the Master Control Program. I oversee this system." The voice, although non-human, seems to show no emotion whatsoever. That makes is all the more disturbing. "Where are you?" Sora once again looks around, trying to see if there was anyone else there besides Leon and the others, and maybe that blue thing.

Donald tries to get off the keyboard, but that triggers the alarm once again, and a frustrated sigh of his name by both Sora and Goofy. "I'm sorry…"

Once more, the Master Control Program speaks. "Decision gate reached. You are now under arrest."

Donald moves a leg up in surprise, while Sora cries out, "Arrest?!" Goofy grabs the duck and places it back onto the ground, while Sora looks around in a sense of anxiety.

Leon looks around, and notices a small beam of light on the wall opposite of the computer. The light continued to grow larger and larger, along with a accompanying sound. He looks over to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Run!"

However, it is too late. By the time they hear Leon's statement, the three of them are blasted by beaks of light coming from that wall. The three seem to be covered by blocks, and frozen in place. Leon looks on in shock, as he sees them begin to break apart, bit by bit, piece by piece. The beams of light retreat back to their point of origin, leaving Leon alone in the computer room.

**KHIIR**

So, there's chapter 2. Once again, lots of filler and mostly rehashing, but I feel I did a lot better with this chapter than the previous one. I will try to spice it up with some battle scenes, but I know very well that they aren't my forte. So, comment, review, critique, whatever.

PS: I will get to the good stuff, just be patient. I don't get to write often, and I sometimes struggle when I do, even with the source material provided. So please, don't hate.


	3. Meeting Tron

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 3: Meeting Tron

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

_What happened,_ is the first thing that raced through Sora's mind as he woke into consciousness. Getting back to his feet, he takes a look around. _This isn't the computer room,_ before looking at his magical clothing. Instead of it being black, red, blue and yellow, it consists mostly of blue and grey. But the blue, it seemed so… shiny. He hears Donald call his name, and looks towards the source. He finds that both Donald and Goofy are surrounded by more new Heartless, and that his two buds have their hands up. The Heartless group walk towards Sora, with Donald and Goofy between them so that they can't escape. "Go on, show 'em who's boss!" He goes to walk to them, but a strange sound and a pillar of light to his left stop him in his tracks. He turns, to see that the beam of light is gone, and a man in glowing red and grey is in its place. "Who're you?"

The man, his face an ashen grey, has wrinkles on it, but you could tell that this guy was important. "I am Commander Sark." His voice, although more human than that of the Master Control Program's, still doesn't have that hint of emotion behind it.

"A Heartless commander?" To be honest, Sora doesn't really know how to react to this. No one could really control the Heartless, besides Ansem and Maleficent, and Riku back when he was being manipulated. So, he just gives a shrug and a cheesy smile, which basically said, 'I really don't believe you.'

Sark 'humphs', almost expecting that sort of reaction. "Observe." Taking his left arm out from behind his back, he clicks a small device in that hand and looks towards Donald and Goofy. A red light shines from that hand, and the effects are immediate. Donald and Goody, who were basically blue and grey like Sora, were now flashing red and yellow, and yelping in pain.

Sora looks out to his friends and partners, and noticing the pain that they're in, succumbs. He looks back over to Sark. "Okay, you're the boss! I get it." His head drops. He doesn't see Sark look back towards him, and raising an eyebrow and giving a rather human smirk. He hears about something called the Pit Cells, before being dragged along, with Donald and Goofy at his side. "Sorry guys." He mutters it under his breath.

**KHIIR**

Sora looks up to see Donald and Goofy looking out a window. Not that long after, he gets to his own feet and walks up behind them, looking out the window himself, his arms crossed. "Man, what kind of world is this, anyway?" He sees Donald and Goofy look back at him, just as stumped as he is, and they show it by shaking their heads.

"You're inside a mainframe computer system." That statement gets the attention of the three, who look towards its source. It was another thing like Sark, only instead of red coloring; it has blue, much like our heroes. Sora is utterly confused.

"A what system?" As if the slapping the keyboard wasn't enough to say 'Hey, look at me, I'm completely computer illiterate!' This question just cemented that fact.

The thing moves slightly from the question. "A computer system – for processing data." It rubs a spot above its lips, around where a moustache would grow. "This system is a copy of one created by a corporation called ENCOM." He then lowers his hand from his mouth. "The original program was destroyed." He then gets back to his feet and begins to walk forward. "But this copy was acquired by another User. The new User updated and customized the programs, renaming the system 'Hollow Bastion OS'. He used the system for town maintenance, and to advance his private research." He puts a hand to his chest. "My name is Tron. I'm a security program. But now I'm under arrest, same as you."

Sora, once again, looks a bit dumbfounded. This computer stuff wasn't his forte. "Did you guys get any of that?" He looks back at Donald and Goofy.

Both of them begin to think, but Goofy is the one to speak. "Gawrsh… You know… maybe we should just introduce ourselves." Both Donald and Sora agree, and introductions are made.

Tron notes their names, and then looks at their suits, as it were. "With that configuration, you must be Users." Once again, Sora is non-plussed by the comment, and that confusion is overlooked. "You'd better get out of here quickly. Who knows what the MCP will do to you?"

"MCP?" Seriously, Sora doesn't really have a clue as to how this world works. In fact, he's still trying to get past the headache that he's inside the computer. Thankfully, Tron elaborates.

"The Master Control Program." Tron then pauses a short bit. "It controls the whole system. If you idle here, you will be de-rezzed." Apparently, the group knows enough that being de-rezzed isn't that good.

"So, how do we get outta here!?" Now, Sora is getting the drift, more or less. The MCP was the bad guy, and he wanted them done and dealt with. Getting out would be the best thing to do.

Tron crosses his arms, trying to think of a way. He then turns around, and walks over to an oversized monitor and keyboard, glowing yellow, the same thing he was sitting up against when he first began talking. "This terminal could've gotten you back to the User world." The three heroes show signs of relief, but Tron's next statement will squash it. "But the MCP cut the power 50 microcycles ago." Their heads drop in disappointment with the statement. "If we could bring the energy core in the canyon online, we could power it back up." The three look back at him, almost expecting what he's going to say next. "The problem is – we're stuck in this cell." He points a thumb over to the doorway, which is covered in an energy field. "We're not going anywhere unless we unlock the energy fields." This gets the three to thinking.

Sora, realizing that he has a shot of opening the energy fields, concentrates. From whatever source is comes from, the Keyblade appears in Sora's hands. He knew very well that the Keyblade can unlock any sort of lock. He tries pointing it straight at the energy fields, but nothing happens. Slightly frustrated, he whacks the field with the Keyblade, causing small clusters to pop out of the field. Picking them up, he whacks the field some more, collecting more and more clusters. Soon, he feels a slight tingle, and leaping up, a single thought, 'Freeze,' goes through his mind. A small beam shoots out, and Sora rotates the Keyblade. The fields vanish, as if they never existed.

**KHIIR**

"Master Control. Why not just de-rezz Tron?" Sark is standing in front of something massive, something that we cannot see. We know that it is the Master Control Program, but the view makes it difficult to see.

"I still haven't located the password to the dataspace." Finally, the MCP is revealed. In truth, it is nothing more than a grouping of data, shaped into that of a giant human face, and blue lines splitting the face up into many different chunks. Yet, the eyes remain blank, except for a small point of light within each space designated for an eye socket, and both points of light are directed towards his second-in-command, Sark.

"What about a logic probe? With all your processing power…" Sark tries to leave this solution to the MCP, but the program quickly denies it.

"Out of the question. The current environment hampers the processing power needed for such an analysis." The MCP pauses, before once again glaring at Sark. "Besides, there is another possible threat out within the User world."

"What do you mean, Master Control? How could something from the User world be deemed a threat, if it hasn't even contacted yet?" Sark is indignant of this action. The MCP would never focus solely on one major threat in the User world. The last time it did happen was catastrophic.

"There has been reports of advanced technology, beyond anything that the Users could develop. Scans have shown that such technology has indeed been found within the User world. If the Users were to get their fleshy digits upon it, our very existence could very well be threatened." There is no change in pitch or tone, but since the MCP cannot really show emotion, the severity of the situation could not be understated. "However, if we were to show this technology our point of view, if we could integrate it with our own systems, then the Users would be exterminated." It is then that the alarm goes off. Sark is somewhat shocked. However, the MCP remains unchanged. "You're dismissed, Sark. Stop any remaining anomalies in the system – or else. End of line."

Sark gives a rather begrudged 'Acknowledged', before beaming off, leaving the MCP time to compute it's next plans. Yet, Sark can't help but process this new bit of data. If he could get access to this new technology, he wouldn't need to live as a pawn of the MCP. He would be the one in control. _And as for Tron_… He gives a small smirk. _Immediate de-resolution would be too kind for him. I could make him my slave._

**KHIIR**

Sora sends away his Keyblade, and turns to see Tron walk up to him, looking somewhat astonished.

"Remarkable… It seems that you have some unique functions." To be honest, Tron seems to be genuinely impressed. Still, he must remain focused on the mission ahead. "I'll go with you to the canyon. You'll need someone who can interface with the energy core, right?"

"If you say so… Thanks, Tron." Sora nods his head towards this program. Already, he can feel a connection in his heart with Tron, so he can truly call him a friend. The two of them, along with Donald and Goofy, head outside their cell, grabbing the contents of the chests in front of them. The group get on board a circular platform, which turns out to be an elevator. "Say, Tron, how exactly do you fight? We might more than likely have to face off against Heartless."

Tron reaches behind his back and grabs a small disk, pulling it away and showing it off. "This is my Identity Disk. Besides it identifying who I am, I use it to de-rezz various viruses that can infect the system. If your Heartless are anything like viruses, they will also be de-rezzed. In fact, all programs hold an Identity Disk, as a means to identify them."

"But since you are a security program, that means that your disk has more to it, right?" Goofy looks at the disk.

"The disk also has the basic programming of what each program should do, and the necessary files to do it. A studying program works in a different manner than a security program, let's say." Tron puts his disk away. "And Disks are non-swappable, meaning that if another program would try to use it, the disk would be useless in their hands." The four of them reach the top, arriving in the Canyon.

"Could a User use an Identity Disk, since they don't have any set programs?" Goofy looks at Tron.

"Unknown, but it is safe to assume only Programs can handle Identity Disks, and only their own." Tron looks up. "We're at the Canyon. Find the Energy Core, and we'll be able to boot up the terminal."

"You mean that?" Donald points and looks inside the building in the center of the Canyon, and finds two cone like shapes, their pointed ends nearly touching, and a small keyboard terminal hear it's base.

"Yes, that's the energy core. But it seems to be missing a data block. Without it, the core cannot activate." Tron points up near the top of the energy core, where there are six square spaces. Five of these spaces are filled with reddish-purple blocks, with white lines going through them. However, one is empty, devoid of a block for it.

"No biggie. There's a huge pile right over there we can use." Sora thumbs over to a pile of blocks, very similar to the ones up there.

"Not that simple. Most of those blocks are corrupted. If we try to put in a corrupted data block, the entire system will shut down, and all the data gained during this session will be de-rezzed as a result." Tron tosses the pile of blocks into a circle, looking at each one of them. "Perhaps your functions will be able to determine which of them is not corrupted." A single data block shines, showing that it is uncorrupted. The group tries to walk up to it, but the ring of blocks begin to rotate, and that useful data block begins to grow dimmer. "We need to get it quickly, before it becomes corrupted!" Attacking the corrupted blocks, Tron releases some clusters and tosses them to Sora.

Meanwhile, Sora, Donald and Goofy are also grabbing clusters from the corrupted data blocks. Soon enough, 'Freeze' goes through Sora's mind, and the blocks freeze, allowing the four to regroup and pull the uncorrupted data block away. Pointing his Keyblade at the block, Sora points it upward, and the block follows. It floats to the open recess in the energy core, and with direction by Sora and the Keyblade, it enters. The core activates, and it recedes into the ground, sending power where it is needed. He then looks back at Tron. "Mission accomplished?"

"Yes." Tron takes a pause, wondering how they will respond. "Now… will you do something for me?"

Sora nods. "You got it!"

Tron takes a step back, somewhat surprised by the energetic and positive reaction. "Don't you want to hear what it is first?"

"You helped us! Now it's our turn." Donald is also ready to help. Goofy nods, showing that all three of them are eager to help out their new friend.

Tron gives a small chuckle. "You guys really are Users. Your actions are totally illogical." He sees the three of them look at each other, once again confused. "Let's hurry back to the pit cell."

"Uh, where's that again?" In all this excitement, it seems that his short-term memory forgot the layout of this place. Of course, they way this place looks doesn't exactly help, either.

"That's the sector where we met." All the while, he's trying to compute why they would help them, without even knowing what it is they needed to do. To him, a program consisting of nothing but ones and zeroes, it seemed to be just beyond his grasp.

"Roger!" Sora nods, with Donald and Goofy quickly nodding as well. With Tron rejoining the group, the four of them return to the elevator platform, descending to the Pit Cell from whence they came. The four of them arrive, and Tron walks to the now working terminal, kneeling down and typing on the keyboard/access pad. "So, what did you want us to do?"

Getting up from his knees, and turning around, Tron looks Sora in the eye. "Find my User. He'll give you the password to access the DTD." Seeing the confusion on their faces, Tron elaborates. "DTD is the name my User gave to the dataspace. Copies of all the original system programs are stored there, along with anything that's sensitive or restricted."

"Is there stuff about the Heartless, or Organization XIII?" Goofy looks at Tron.

Tron idles for a moment before responding. "Hmm… Most likely. He then kneels back down at the terminal's access pad and goes back to inputting data. "A number of my functions were appropriated when I last took on the MCP. That's why I need the password." Getting back to his feet, he continues to speak. "If I can get inside the DTD, I can access my original backup program, and restore all my functions." He then turns around and looks at the three of them again. "Then, I'll be able to put this system back the way it was before the MCP got control and changed everything. The way it was supposed to be – a free system for you – the Users."

Goofy gives an 'hmmm…' showing that he is thinking. "Gee, Tron, ain't the MCP one of those programs, too? Do ya know who it was who made it?"

"Actually… I don't know." Tron looks a little crestfallen. This was one of the few things he actually didn't know about, and things that he doesn't know bother him greatly.

"Okay, we'll just have to find your user and ask him. What's his name?" Sora is ready to find that password, no matter what it takes. Nothing could stop them.

Once again, Tron is a bit stunned. "You mean you don't know? My User is the user of this system: Ansem the Wise."

Then again, that could be a problem. "Ansem!?" The three heroes yell out. Of course, they are all thinking the same thing: How could someone like Tron trust in someone like Ansem? Ansem caused so much trouble for them during their first adventure, and since he's now gone, it seems that things wouldn't work out.

Behind Tron, the terminal begins to flicker with static, signaling that the MCP is trying to shut it down. Tron turns around and gets back on a knee, putting in more data to block the MCP from shutting down the terminal. "Looks like the MCP's on to us. I'll keep this terminal up and running. You better exit the system, now!"

Sora is rather apprehensive about this. "Sure… But Tron… Ansem is…" He is cut off by Donald, who says, "We'll get ya the password!"

"Okay. You're good to go." Tron finally gets up off of his knees and turns around, looking at the three of them. "Hurry!" He steps off to the side, letting the three of them stand in front of the terminal. Three beams of light cover them, and they soon vanish. Tron sighs, but his sigh is cut short by a small clap. Sark rounds the corner, entering the cell.

"Well done, Tron. I must thank you for getting rid of those miserable bugs." Sark smirks, and with a snap of his fingers, multiple Heartless slide into the room.

"Sark. You never could follow the system. You always had to find some what to appropriate other functions for yourself." Tron pulls out his Identity Disk and throws it at one of the Heartless, de-rezzing it. Like it was guessed earlier, the system thought of them like a virus, and Tron's Disk still had enough power to destroy them.

"Now Tron, I just wanted to reward you for getting the Users to leave." Sark cocks his head to the side, and the Heartless surround and smother Tron underneath their mass. "How about a game, for old time's sake?" A beam of light surrounds the pile, warping Tron and the Heartless away from the Pit Cell. Sark goes to turn off the terminal, but thinks better of it. _Those pathetic Users could still be of use._ He turns around, and is also covered by a beam of light. Both he and the beam vanish, leaving the Pit Cell empty.

**KHIIR**

Well, there's chapter three. I honestly felt that this one was the best one to date, because I literally had a lot more to go on. Tron's world is relatively fresh (at least for me), so adding my little touches to it made it feel all the more special. Besides, the more I enjoy a world, I feel that I write better, and I adore Space Paranoids (Tron's World). As per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.

PS: Sark is far from done.


	4. Royalty Found

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 4: Royalty Found

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

Back within Ansem's computer room, Leon is typing with a purpose. Just a few minutes ago, Sora, Donald and Goofy literally vanished from sight, almost as if they never existed. During this space in time, he spent it trying to find out where they could possibly be. He is worried, no doubt about it, but he stops himself from going straight into a full-blown panic. If he panics, he would be of no use to anyone. He hears the sound of that blasted wall behind him charging up, and his back chills. Would he join those three? Would he be put somewhere else? He turns around to see what is going on, and finds the three heroes re-materializing, as if nothing was wrong. He puts a hand out, almost not believing what he was seeing. But, when they begin parading around, his disbelief become relief. Yet, he would not be deterred. "Where have you been?"

"Well, uh…" Obviously, Sora doesn't know where to start. Of course, with him not really knowing what was going on didn't really help either. "There's a … world inside this computer, where these, um… programs live, and it seems that one of those programs, the MCP, wants all the control."

"MCP? What does that mean?" Leon doesn't know how long this will last, but he really hopes it doesn't take too long.

"Master Control Program, the same one that put us under arrest. Anyway, we met a security program down there, named Tron." Sora crosses his arms, trying to keep the facts straight. "There's also another program, called Sark, who works for the MCP. It seems that Tron once went up against the MCP, but lost most of his… what did he call them again? Functions?" He looks back at Donald and Goofy, who nod. "Well, he needs them, and they are held in the DTD, the name for the dataspace, right?" Again, Donald and Goofy nod. "Well, the DTD will also have the stuff Ansem was working on, and things about Organization XIII, too. Thing is, we need a password for it, and Ansem's the only one who knew it."

"So in other words, Ansem's research data is off-limits unless we know the password." Leon sighs. This wasn't the way this was supposed to go.

"I think that's right." Sora sighs. He really didn't like giving explanations. He either did them too fast, or it was something that people didn't really want to hear. Any which way he looked at it, they gave him headaches, and the Keyblade wielder was beginning to get one.

"But you've already defeated Ansem…" Leon didn't really want to think about that last part.

"Gawrsh, maybe we'll never find the password." Goofy looks down and gives a small kick to the floor.

"That means this is all a wild goose chase." Leon also looks down, in disappointment. All the work they did, retaking Hollow Bastion, rebuilding the town, protecting the citizens, it would have been for nothing. The computer was so important to their success, and being unable to gain access to Ansem's files is like being given a sucker punch to the kidney. He puts his forehead in the palm of his right hand. _Just great. What's next?_

"You're chasing what, now?" Leon looks towards the doorway leading back to the study, as does Sora and the others. There, in the doorway, is Tifa, he hands at her hips again. "Well, well! A hidden room! Guess I'd better take another look around." With that, she turns around and re-enters the study, still trying to find that spiky headed guy, and it isn't Leon or Sora.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy follow Tifa, and their jaws drop slightly when they see what she's doing to the room. Her kick alone was enough to shake the room. Now, things are being thrown about, and the room shaking is just par for the course. "She just won't give up…" Sora puts his hands behind his heads, barely dodging out of the way of a flying book.

"And neither will we!" Donald also dodges a book tossed back, only to get smacked in the face by another. Luckily, it was a paperback that hit him. Unfortunately, it was a rather hefty paperback.

"C'mon, we've gotta look for that password!" Goofy gets hit by a book in the shin, which causes him to hop up and down in pain.

"Right. We made a promise to Tron." Sora barely ducks another chucked book, as it barely makes contact with his hair. "Could you stop doing that?"

Tifa looks back, and her face is a little flush with embarrassment. "Sorry about that." She now stands in front of Ansem's portrait, and notices that the heroes are standing right behind her. She looks at it, her head slightly cocked to one side, as if to ascertain something. He head goes back straight up. "Excuse me." The three pull back, while she pops her knuckles. Going to the lower left corner, she lifts the massive portrait, not even breaking a sweat. Moving to the side, she places it down, with a small shake of the room. Wiping her hands, she looks at the spot where the portrait once hung. Dust collected along the wall, before she gives it a punch, once again shaking the room, and knocking the dust off the wall. She turns around and sighs, and then leaves and re-enters the computer room.

Once she's left, Donald's jaw fully drops. "She's insane!" Then, for a few moments, he begins to squawk unintelligibly, just showing how bizarre this has become.

Ignoring Donald's momentary breakdown, Sora looks at the wall Tifa just punched. "What's this doodle?"

Donald shakes loose of his short-term insanity, and begins to read what's on the wall. "Hollow… Main… Security… Tron… Door to…"

"Looks like a diagram or somethin'," Goofy looks over to Sora, who stares at it, trying to figure it out.

"Door… to… darkness?" Donald is absolutely stumped by what this diagram is supposed to mean.

Sora's eyes open wide, as he says, "Oh!" Leaping up, he points at the D in Door, the T in to, and the D in Darkness, saying each letter. Soon, all three of them say the same thing; "DTD!"

Leon walks out of the computer room to check on the three heroes. "What's up?"

Sora looks back at Leon, and then points at the diagram. "Look at this! This must be the dataspace! The DTD. See? The Door To Darkness!"

By those last few words, Leon has reached the diagram to take a look for himself. "What do you know? But… that still leaves the password." Once again, he looks towards the more dreary side of things.

"Say, fellas, did someone mention the Door to Darkness?" The three heroes, along with Leon, look back to the door leading into the Study, a familiar high-pitched voice. Sora goes so far as to take a double take so as to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. But, there he stood, clad in a familiar Organization XIII cloak, his ever-so-present ears still present beneath the hood. There stood His Majesty, the king of Disney Castle, Mickey Mouse, wielder of the Dark Realm's Keyblade.

"Your Majesty!" The three heroes are extremely relieved by this pleasant turn of affairs.

Quickly, though, Mickey puts a finger to his lips and shushing them, signaling them to be quiet. He goes behind the door and closes it, in a means to get some sense of privacy, from any possible prying eyes and ears. Sighing, he pulls down his hood, but is caught off guard by Donald literally leaping on him with a massive hug. Goofy grabs the both of them and lifts them, also joining in on the hug. Of course, Goofy giggles with this good change.

"Long time no see!" Well, since the King was here, Sora was a bit more at ease. The King was the last one to have seen Riku, so the King must know where he could be now.

Once more, the King shushes. "The Organization might be listening!" Despite his squeaky voice, you can tell that Mickey was absolutely serious about this. Sora understands, and goes silent for the moment. Goofy puts the King and Donald down, with the mallard giving Mickey one more quick hug. Looking around in a guarded manner, he looks back at the heroes. "You mentioned the Door to Darkness?"

"Uh, yes, sir!" Both Goofy and Donald stand rigid, as in salute, with the captain of the King's Royal Guard speaking. "Ya see, we're lookin' for the secret password."

"Password?" Now, it seems that Mickey is stumped. He sees the three heroes slump down, almost in defeat. It is then that an idea hits him. "Oh, I guess you mean like a code." Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Leon giving a little relieved sigh himself. "Well, the Door to Darkness can only be opened by the seven princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle…" The King counts them off on his fingers.

"Of course." Leon is sort of feeling stupid at the moment. Was it that difficult to figure out? The Door to Darkness needed those Princesses to work. And since the database was called the Door to Darkness, it should have been so obvious. _That's what a year does to us. Can make us forgetful. _He then proceeds to re-enter the computer room.

"What're you tryin' to do?" Mickey is obviously curious as to what is going on. When he hears that Ansem's research data is locked and that password is needed to unlock it, he leaps up. "So that means you might be able to find out where he is!"

"Stop jokin' around, Your Majesty. We already defeated Ansem. You know that." Yep, that's right; Ansem is done and dealt with. He's old news.

Mickey strokes his chin, before crossing his arms. Looks like I've got a lot explainin' to do." The three heroes are ready to listen, but Leon walks back in.

"Hey, isn't Tron waiting for you guys?" Congratulations, Leon, you really put a damper on the festivities. Still, the scarred Gunblade wielder has a point.

The heroes look to the King, then to Leon, back to the King, and then back to Leon. Luckily, King Mickey makes their choice easier. "Don't worry. I'm not goin' anywhere. If those Heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everybody here." The heroes agree to do so as well. "Then, let's talk more later." Making it a promise, the group prepares to leave, but Mickey holds them back for a little longer. "Wait a moment. Let me give your clothes some new powers, Sora." Obviously, Sora is a bit excited over this. "You've done so much; just consider it a thank-you present." Handing over the item to power up Sora's clothes, Mickey tells them to be careful.

Sora has a chance to look at the new item for his clothes. It is a small yellow sphere, with what seems like an 'X' in the middle of it. The sphere literally goes inside the clothing, vanishing. Yet, the power it leaves is just staggering. One word goes through Sora's mind; 'Master'. "Come on, guys. We've got a promise to Tron that we need to keep." Seeing Donald and Goofy backing him up, he heads towards the computer room. He stops to find a new chest, and opens it. Within is one of those summoning charms, this one with a ukulele on it. "Leon, what's this?"

"Remember that blue thing? Well, that charm will summon him for use." Leon gives a small smirk. "I'm sure that he'll be useful in the future."

Nodding, Sora heads up to the computer and presses a few buttons, Donald and Goofy looking at the wall behind them. Sora hears the hum of the wall, signaling that the beam to take them back into the computer is activated. Turning around, he stand between Donald and Goofy. The beam of light grows, and three beams shoot out, making contact with them. They soon break apart into block, which is not as painful as it sounds. The blocks are taken inside, and the three heroes continue their journey.

**KHIIR**

Well, there's chapter four. This one wasn't really that tough to do, since it was more or less a direct transfer from the game to the story. And of course, I felt like making Sora explain what he went through in Space Paranoids to Leon, instead of cheating through it. And I just felt like abusing Donald and Goofy a little bit in this chapter. So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.

PS: Four chapters, and already 10,000 words? To quote Ron Simmons, "Damn!" I was going for four thousand by this point, six thousand maybe. But ten?! It was worth it. I might reach my 100,000 word goal a lot earlier than I thought…


	5. DTD Access

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 5: DTD Access

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

Once more, the heroes find themselves in the Pit Cell, where they first met Tron. Strange enough, he isn't around. "Where is he?" Sora takes a peek outside the Pit Cell, but once again sees nothing noteworthy. "Where could he be?"

"Tron! We got the password!" Donald cups his bill, so as to help his voice echo, so maybe Tron could hear it. Of course, he isn't around. He's busy playing a game with Sark and the Heartless.

Meanwhile, Goofy is looking at the terminal, obviously worried about his new buddy. "Gawrsh, I wonder where Tron is." He hears Donald yelling at him not to touch the terminal, and he doesn't. Still, it begins to show signs of static, signaling the MCP. Huh?" He hears Sora chastise him, but that noise is drowned out by the sound of those light pillars. Turning around, he finds both of them gone. Of course, being alone, he stupidly says, "Uhh… I didn't do it!" Then he too is covered by one of those light pillars, and warped away from the Pit Cell.

**KHIIR**

The light pillars drop from our three heroes, revealing their new location; a very large grid-filled area, walled off from any possible intrusion. Sora looks back at Goofy, who says he didn't touch anything.

Yet, out of the blue, Sark's voice is booming, seemingly from every direction. "Welcome to the game grid." Of course, his voice is merely being projected, as Sark is watching from a location some distance away. _So, those bugs came back after all. This will be better than I anticipated._ After hearing the User boy's question, Sark continues. "That's right; you've been chosen to play a few games. Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win? Well…" Sark gives a small chuckle. "No one wins." After hearing the duck saying that they won't play the games, Sark fires back. "You have no choice." Hearing that User boy accept the challenge, Sark can't help but smirk. "Ah, now we must find the right game for you." Scanning through the game data, he finds a personal favorite of his. "Your game has been chosen, boy. Light Cycles. The objective of this game is to de-rezz the opposition, before the same can be done to you. You shall have five Heartless to face off against." Pressing a switch, his voice cuts off, leaving those Users to their fate.

Sora looks down, and finds a cycle rising up underneath him in a beam of light. "Whoa!" He looks at Donald and Goofy apprehensively. "Wish me luck, guys." The two give him a salute, before they are warped away from him. Pressing a few buttons on the cycle, he pushes off, going a lot faster than he thought. Ahead of him is a large pack of Heartless, speeding ahead. Revving the Light Cycle, Sora gives chase.

From his vantage point, Sark keeps an eye on all three of these Users. Of course, he is also keeping an eye on one other. Looking down at a screen, he finds Tron, continuing to fight off a Devastator Heartless. Gazing back at Sora's screen and stats. It seems that this User has only one Heartless… The Heartless counter reaches zero, signaling that Sora has reached his Heartless de-rezz goal. He pulls the Devastator away from Tron's game grid zone, and places it in… Sora's game grid. _Why do Users have such ridiculous titles?_ He sees Sora dodge the Devastator's blast, and leaving a massive crack. Warping Tron back to the Pit Cell, Sark now focuses solely on this User boy, Sora.

Seeing the crack, Sora gives a slight fist pump. "All right! It looks like we can escape through there. Donald, Goofy, head for the crack in the wall!" Seeing his two friends escape, Sora gets back on his light cycle and guns it. Just before he reaches it, a wall is put up, blocking his way out.

"You won't escape that easily, bug!" Sark now pulls out all the stops, and releases group after group of Heartless after Sora, targeting him for de-resolution. Yet, Sark seems… at ease, almost as if expecting this. _That's right, foolish User. Play your part. You still have work to do._

The Heartless follow Sora, like a massive flood of black, blue, green, and white. Some collide with the walls, but more and more follow. More are de-rezzed by Sora's Keyblade and his light cycle, but still, that does little to stem the tide. Soon, he reaches an open area, and it seems the tide has all but vanished. Ahead is the crack in the wall, leading to his freedom. Yet, that crack is being guarded by two of those massive Heartless like the one that shot at him earlier. They once again fire at him. But, instead of him dodging them, Sora activates his light cycle's barrier, deflecting the shots back at the Devastators, destroying them. Passing through the crack in the wall, he vanishes from sight, returning him to his last position before entering the game grid.

Sark clenches his fists, expecting the call. "SARK!" The red-lined Heartless commander turns, facing a screen with the MCP on it. "Master Control, let me explain…"

"No need for explanations, Sark. You have failed to de-rezz four potential threats to the system in those User and Tron! For the moment, you are to be relieved of command of the Heartless. I will deal with these bugs myself." The MCP is about to cut off communication with Sark, but stops.

"Wait, MCP. The Users have the password to the DTD! That is why I let them stay. Let them access the DTD, then take control when they unlock it." Sark has his hands open and slightly stretched out. "Think of it!"

The MCP pauses. "The Users are known to be deceitful, Sark. Their words are not to be trusted. Still, there is the chance that your statement is true." It pauses once more. "Very well, Sark. Your data has been spared, for the moment. I will not accept any more failure on your behalf, under threat of de-resolution. End of line." The screen blanks leaving Sark alone.

"Acknowledged." Sark looks over the game grid, observing the hole in the wall. He gives a small smirk. Everything was going the way he planned. If something went awry… he could find another way to deal with that. But for now, nothing could possibly ruin his plans.

**KHIIR**

Having returned back to the Pit Cell, the three heroes sigh in relief. Sora was really close to being de-rezzed. If he did, what would happen... Their thoughts are side-tracked by seeing Tron, lying face down in the Pit Cell, obviously hurt and exhausted himself. "Tron!" Rushing to his friend's side, he pulls out a Hi-Potion and breaks it over Tron's body, letting the healing fluid do it's work.

Tron finally pulls himself to his feet, still feeling a bit woozy. Sark's game nearly de-rezzed him. "I don't understand. Why are you here?"

"We came to give you the password." Sora stands ready to catch Tron, just in case he suddenly feels weak and falls.

"Why didn't you just transmit the data?" Tron's voice is warbled and weak, but it still has some sense of clarity to it. Seeing that the others really didn't understand how to transmit data, he tries to shake his head, but nearly falls over. Luckily Sora catches him, and after being asked about his status, he is able to muster up a reply. "I'll be all right… once we access the DTD." He pushes himself up, getting himself steady once again. "We'll just have to be ready for Sark and his Heartless. His games were close to de-rezzing me."

"Tron, just what was Sark trying to do with those games?" Donald asks the security program, once they reach the elevator platform.

"The so-called 'games' are nothing more than elaborate ways to de-rezz various programs. The more successes you get, the more difficult the game becomes, until you reach a point that is impossible to beat. When you reach that point, de-resolution is immediate, and painful." Tron looks along the Canyon wall. "See that red wall? That is our location to access the DTD."

"One more thing Tron. Why does the MCP want control?" Sora looks up at Tron, the platform taking them up to the Canyon.

"Well, the MCP was originally a data-acquisition program. The more data is gets, the more powerful it gets. Besides, I have to thank you. If I was beaten in the game, it would have acquired my data. And since all de-rezzed data goes straight to the MCP, it would entail making the MCP stronger and stronger." Once they reach the top, they find a few small Heartless, including those yellow Strafers. Picking up the items left behind, the group is now in front of the Dataspace tower. They enter, gazing at the massive monitor in front of them, and the large amounts of neon-green.

Tron stands in front of monitor, holding his hand out. A holographic keyboard appears in front of him. Without looking back, he asks, "All right, what's the password?"

Donald starts it off. "Well… Belle, Snow White…" Goofy continues with the others. "Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella…" Seeing Tron look back, Sora gives the last part. "Kairi."

"Kairi, got it." Turning back, he finishes typing the last of the password. The Dataspace tower shakes, and the screen glows brightly, signaling that the DTD has been successfully accessed. Tron looks back at the three, a smile one his face. "That did it!"

However, their joy is short-lived, because an alarm blares, and a feminine voice calls out from the Dataspace. "Now switching DTD over from hibernation to active mode. This process will take some time. Please enjoy a game while the process is running."

The look on the heroes' faces show their shock. Tron goes back to typing, trying to stop it. "This isn't a game. This is the DTD's final security routine. Stay focused!"

On the three monitors inside the Dataspace, the Heartless symbol appears, signaling the arrival of these creature borne of the darkness of all being's hearts. "We need to freeze the monitors!" Tron calls out. "That will finish the security routine!" He tosses his Identity Disk at one of the Strafers, knocking clusters of data out.

Taking his cue, the other three also begin to beat on the Strafers, collecting the data clusters. Sora feels that familiar 'Freeze' command in his mind, and pointing to the monitor in the back left, he freezes it. "Two more to go!" He quickly gets another 'Freeze' command, and uses it on the monitor in the back right. Now, the Dataspace blares out a repeated warning. This doesn't deter Sora, who goes back to getting rid of the Strafers. One whacks him in the head, but he manages to get enough data cluster to use 'Freeze' on the monitor in the front. With that, the security routine is finished.

Walking back to the holo-keyboard, Tron places his hand on it, and light flows from the board, into Tron. Slowly, his functions return, and it shows. He glows much brighter, and he feels far more capable that he has been in some time. "I'm as good as new! All my functions have been restored!" Before a proper congratulations and small celebration, the alarm blares again. He, along with the others, barely dodge out of the way of a red de-resolution beam.

"Finally, I have full access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete. I might have anticipated such a simple password." The MCP is now in control with the smaller monitor screens flashing red. "What's this? An emergency destruct program for the town." For once, the MCP's voice shows… malice. "Let's see how it performs." With that, the process begins.

"No!" Tron quickly places his palm on the keyboard again, this time blue light flowing from him and into it, giving him some semblance of control. Quickly, he keys in something else, so as to block the MCP. The final keystroke stops the threat.

"Program! You changed the password!" The MCP's voice, now seems more energetic, and this time, it has the hint of contempt on it.

"There, that should buy us some time." Tron looks back at our three heroes. "The MCP is loading a hostile program into the I/O Tower. We need to protect the User town." Seeing them nod in agreement, Tron gives the command. "Let's head to the tower!" With that, the four of them leave the Dataspace.

**KHIIR**

Well, that's Chapter five. Now, I know this one isn't quite like the last Space Paranoids chapter, but I felt that I did really good with the Light-Cycle portion. And once again, I'm making Sark into a bigger character. Why? 'Cause I said so! So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.


	6. Hostile Program

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 6: Hostile Program

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

"Which way, Tron?" Sora looks around the Canyon. Having just stepped out of the Dataspace tower, he's trying to figure out where to go to head off a hostile program. When he sees Tron run towards one of those platforms, he quickly follows. "We'll be cutting it close, won't we?"

"It depends, Sora. If we won't have any major resistance to the I/O tower, every thing should work out well." Tron tosses his Identity Disk smacking a Soldier away and off the edge of the walkway.

"And if there is?" Sora knocks a nearby Strafer back to Donald, who fries it with a Thunder spell. Another tries to jump on Sora, but Goofy's shield knocks it over the edge.

"Then prepare for a long battle." Tron reaches the platform. "Hurry!" The three of them reach the platform, and it begins it's travel to the I/O Tower. "We can't let that hostile program destroy the User town."

Reaching the hallway of the I/O Tower, the team of four run, Tron taking the lead, Sora following, and Donald and Goofy trailing them both. Taking a right turn, they arrive in a wide space. "Just ahead!" Tron nearly reaches before nearly blown away by a Devastator. Using his Pulsing Thunder, Tron stuns the massive Heartless. "Sora, get it!"

Taking Tron's cue, Sora jumps into the air, hitting the Devastator with a flurry of Keyblade strikes. Yet, the Heartless knows enough to let Sora finish his combination. When he does, Sora is grabbed by the Devastator, and given a massive shock, wracking his body with massive amounts of pain. He is launched back, and goes to grab a Potion out of his pockets. However, it is shot out of his hand by one of the two back up Emerald Blue Heartless. Getting back to his feet, the Emerald Blues cover him, and using their wind abilities, they create massive tornadoes, sucking him in. He looks down when he hears a clang, to see Goofy's shield connect with the side of one of those Emerald Blues, knocking it aside. Tron knocks the other one away, letting Donald cast 'Cure' on Sora.

Feeling refreshed, Sora casts Thunder on the Devastator, stunning it. This time, he shoots out a shot of Blizzard magic, damaging it, but still not destroying that massive Heartless. Seeing another shot being sent his was, Sora sprints to the side, dodging it, and sending the blast towards those two Emerald Blues, destroying them. Now, only the Devastator is left. It switches to a hovering mode, and tries to flee, only to get three simultaneous Thunder strikes, causing it to dissipate. Shaking off his wounds, he rushes into the room ahead of him, with the other three close behind.

Now inside the Communication Room of the I/O Tower, the four look at the center of the room, noticing a platform. That platform's bottom is light, but there seems to be a pillar of darkness covering it. "It must be total chaos outside." Tron grimaces. They were too late to stop the hostile program from being downloaded, but luckily, it seemed to be only a partial download.

"I think there's gonna be trouble inside, too…" Donald is looking back from where they came from. "I think part of that thing is still here!" Goofy looks over, and notices another terminal leading back to Hollow Bastion.

Sora sees the terminal, too, but focuses on the doorway leading back to the hallway. "So, Tron, what do we do?"

"An enemy like this hostile program will be powerful. But, like all things here, what they can do is all determined by it's data." Tron gets his Identity Disk out.

"We steal it's data and use the data against it?" Sora sees Tron nod. "Doesn't really seem nice. But, we really have no choice." Casting 'Cure' on everyone, Sora takes out a couple of items and places them in his pocket for use. "Ready?" Seeing everyone nod, Sora takes the lead, and Tron, Donald, and Goofy soon follow.

**KHIIR**

Stepping back out into the Hallway, the four look around. "I don't see anything." Goofy looks around the floor and farther ahead. But, he finally looks up and yelps. There if floats down, a terror of technology, that Hostile Program, ready to de-rezz any who stands in it's way.

As Tron looks on in shock, the MCP's voice calls out. "I'm disappointed in you, Program. Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?"

Tron's face becomes one of determination. "Because I want to help them. Something written into my code commands me to do what is right."

"Really? And what command would that be?" The MCP is rather amused at this. A program, feigning emotion, allying itself with the Users? Utter madness.

Now, Tron's face is one of contemplation. "I can't really say for sure." He then looks over to Sora. Perhaps this User knew what this command of his means.

"Friends, they help each other, that's all." Sora's comment, however odd it may seem, makes sense to Tron. _Friends,_ thinks the program. _They are my friends, as they are mine._ However, Tron is snapped out of it by the Hostile Program puts up a barricade, so as to not allow the Users, and this rogue program, to escape. The massive program descends fully, just barely hovering over the floor of the I/O Tower's hallway.

"Remember, take it's data!" Tron unleashes some Pulsing Thunder, which barely does anything, except from releasing one small data cluster. "Not good." The Hostile Program swats him with one of it's massive arms, sending the security program flying into the barrier, which gives him a shock. Tron, showing his resiliency, gets back to his feet and continues the attack, with Donald and Goofy helping him out.

Meanwhile, Sora is going around, trying to collect the data clusters. However, this is proving to be more of a problem than before. The clusters are vanishing before he can reach them, and if he tried to attack the Hostile Program to get some for himself, it hits him pretty hard, knocking him back. Tron is knocked next to him. "TRON!"

Getting the cue, Tron slaps Sora's palm, and crouches as if he is at one of the terminals leading to Hollow Bastion. "Running executable!" Sora raises his Keyblade, and small little probes shoot out from the two of them, attaching themselves to the Hostile Program, causing a flood of data clusters to fly out. Sora races after the clusters, with Tron launching more and more probes at the Program. Soon, Tron calls out, "Access Approved!" A small hand pad appears in front of Sora, who nods his head and slams his palm down onto the pad, launching dozens of probes, all tracking the Program. With each probe that hits, more and more clusters shoot out. The probes vanish, and the Program is moving much more sluggishly. Still it is far from done. It's arms detach, and lasers begin to fire out from them.

By this time, Sora has more than enough data clusters to freeze the Program. So, running up to it, Sora leaps into the air, and uses that 'Freeze' command floating around. The Hostile Program idles, unable to move, and its lasers are disabled. Taking charge, Sora leaps up and hits a large number of blows, finishing with a massive swipe. The Program twitches from that last swipe, before attempting to levitate away. Yet, it has sustained too much damage, and drops to the floor. It glows in a pale light, before it shatters into countless bits of data, never to be recompiled.

"Back to the Communication Room. We need to see what happened." Bruised, battered, and slightly fried, Tron moves towards the room that they just left from not even five minutes ago. The others slowly follow, nursing their own wounds. Back inside the Communication Room, all seems well. The data stream is no longer tinted dark, signaling that all signs of the Hostile Program's presence was eliminated from the system. Walking over to the terminal, he kneels down and begins to type on it, trying to connect it to Hollow Bastion. He looks back at Sora. "I really owe you one. With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now, I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want."

Sora's head drops slightly. "What Ansem would want…" Ansem wanted Tron to protect the system? That didn't make sense. He looks back to Donald and Goofy, with a look as if to tell Tron about Ansem. They shake their heads in agreement. "Listen, Tron. We didn't get the password from Ansem. We sort of just found it, back in the User world, by accident. And one more thing… Ansem – he was our enemy." Sora pauses for a moment. "I mean… he still is… I guess."

By this time, Tron has stopped typing and has gotten back onto his feet. "Well, actually, he's my enemy, too."

Now, this is really not making any sense to our heroes. "What do you mean?"

Tron turns and looks at them. "Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So, that makes him my User." Seeing the three nod, he continues. "But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew wouldn't do that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Sora uncrosses his arms. "That's okay… but now I really don't get it." If we were to look back at Donald and Goofy, they also share that same look.

"I don't… understand it either." Tron admits, albeit begrudgingly. "But, I think Users, like you, are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out. You have the ability to take illogical routes and still arrives at the answers that you seek." Tron gives them a small smile, before becoming serious. "Now go, before the MCP starts acting up again.

Sora nods, as does Donald and Goofy. Before they leave, Tron stops them for a moment. "Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my User's terminal. I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while."

"Access channel?" Once again, Sora's computer ineptness comes forth. However, Tron merely chuckles. "I knew you'd ask." Tron presses a button on the terminal and stands to the side. "It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected." While he speaks, those light beams begin to cover the three heroes, preparing to teleport them out of the computer and back to Hollow Bastion. "You… my friends… are the new passwords."

Sora gives a smile. "Thanks, Tron! Take care!"

"You too!" Tron manages to throw in a small keychain, similar in shape to his Identity Disk "And give my best to the Users!" The three heroes have now vanished from anywhere in the system, letting Tron sigh in relief. "Take care out there."

**KHIIR**

"Master Control, those three Users have left the system. What is next?" Sark is holding conference with the MCP, so as to gather more information, and to continue with his plans.

"That meddlesome program Tron has cost me access to the DTD. Detain him, and put him through some games. Try to ascertain what the new password is. If he does not co-operate, subject him to gradual de-resolution." The polygonal face of the MCP seems to be distracted.

This doesn't pass over Sark. "There is another problem, Master Control?"

"My sensors in the User world have detected that advanced technology again. Each time, it appears closer and closer towards the User's dwellings." The MCP is once more focused solely on Sark.

"You are capable of launching a physical probe in the User World. Let me download myself into the probe, to act as an ambassador of sorts." Sark gazes up at the giant visage in front of him.

"Request denied Sark. Any attempt to launch a probe this early will make the Users suspicious. Besides, you serve a far more useful purpose here. If anything, try to find a way to access the Manufactory in the User World, so as to let loose the Heartless. End of line." The screen flickers, then shuts off, signaling that the MCP is now away.

"Acknowledged." Stepping away from the area, Sark goes back to planning. _He must have his suspicions as to what I am planning. Yes, he knows that he has little chance of survival unless I am there. So, while he remains, I remain. The only way for me to escape, is to let the MCP be deleted. But, if I were to just let it happen, without any sort of sign showing my allegiance to him and if he still survives, I will end up being de-rezzed._ Being beamed away, he continues his planning. _All I know, is that those Users are the key._

**KHIIR**

Yep, that be chapter 6 done. I know that it seems really short, and to be honest, it really is. It normally takes me five minutes to go through this area, if I skip cutscenes. So, trying to make it at least two thousand words was somewhat challenging. In fact, I had to add that last part with Sark and the MCP to get to my 2,000+ words. Besides, I just can't have a Space Paranoids chapter not have Sark and the MCP in it. So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.


	7. Defend Hollow Bastion

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 7: Defend Hollow Bastion

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

Back within Ansem's computer room, the now-familiar sound of the back wall sounds back up, and our three heroes, Sora, Donald and Goofy re-appear, having just stopped the MCP from destroying Hollow Bastion. "Well, that's that." He sees Leon off to the side, who is thumbing the computer terminal behind him. On the screen, are three small sprite figures, each one in the 8-bit style, and each one based on the heroes. "Tron… hang in there."

"So where do we start?" Leon can't help but give a very small smile to those little figures, dancing on the screen.

"I know! Let's access the DTD." Stepping out of the way, Sora lets Leon at the keyboard.

"The King's checking the situation in town. He'll be back soon, so don't worry." After a small bit of typing, Leon pauses. "Hey, look, it's asking for a password."

"That's easy. It's Sora, Donald, Goofy." Goofy points out each one of the parts of the password.

"That's… to the point." Strangely, Leon sounds a bit mirthful with that comment, as if holding back a laugh. After typing in the password, the screen goes and changes showing that access has been approved. "We're in. Now, I have to go into town." Leon turns to the way towards the study. "Need to see what that last shakeup did."

"You're not gonna check out the data? It wasn't exactly easy to get!" Sora is obviously a bit miffed at this. _At least he should have checked it, first._

"I'm coming right back." Leon pauses, before continuing to speak. "Hey, Sora, why don't you get started on loading the data and copying it down?" Seeing Sora's computer ineptitude coming out, Leon tries to calm it. "It's just a few keystrokes. Easy, right?" He pats Sora on the shoulder, before finally heading out into the town.

Sora can't help but give Leon a rather nasty look. However, he knows enough to stay quiet until Leon is gone. "That was a jerk move by him." Shaking his head, he goes to the computer, and pressing a few keys, begins the copying process.

"Did it work?" Donald is rather suspicious of the computer.

"Hey, these things take time, okay?" Still, Sora is a little miffed. He and computer just don't seem to agree. Typing a little more on the keyboard, he opens up a search box. Hearing Goofy, he types in Riku and Kairi's names into the search box. Unfortunately, the search brings up no results. "No way… Even Ansem's computer doesn't know…" Now, his miffed state is more mopeish.

Goofy takes a crack at the search box, trying to find something about the Nobodies. A file pops up, but it is up for too short a time before an error box pops up. Goofy then tries for Organization XIII. Once again, the computer states that the data is corrupt.

Sora, obviously at his wit's end with the computer, begins ti slam the keyboard with his fists, causing many smaller non-noteworthy windows to pop up and get removed. Donald and Goofy pull Sora back. When they do, they find that one window remains up. This window shows a somewhat elderly man, with whitish-blonde hair and beard, along with a white coat and a red scarf.

His anger moved aside for curiosity, Sora looks at the guy's photo. "Who's this guy?"

"Well, I see ya got things workin'!" The three turn towards the way to the study, and there stands King Mickey. They call him, but the King just shushes them. Walking up to the computer terminal, Mickey looks at the heroes. "Good goin'. The computer should tell us the things we need to know."

"But it keeps on sayin' the data inside's all ker-skuffled." The others nod with Goofy's statement, with Sora adding, "All we got is a picture of some guy we don't know."

King Mickey raises an eyebrow, then takes a look at the computer screen. At a moment's glance, he leaps up, recognizing the picture, or at least the person in it. "Ansem the Wise!"

The three heroes look at each other, then to the king. "Come on, are you teasing us again?" Sora is really not amused by this statement by the king. Donald adds in, "Did you forget what Ansem looked like, Your Majesty?"

"Of course I know what he looks like! And this is him, of that, I'm positive!" Mickey is adamant in his view.

Just about at his wit's end, Sora walks up to King Mickey and grabs him by the wrist. "Excuse me? Could you come this way, please?" Without stopping, he proceeds to drag the King back to the study, placing him in front of the portrait of Ansem, Donald and Goofy on either side of them. "Look, THIS is Ansem. You know, the guy we all worked really hard to defeat?"

"Oh, that's right – I never finished explaining." Mickey looks at the young Keyblade wielder, his court wizard, and the captain of his Royal Guard. "Well, the guy in the picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts, the one you fellas defeated. But, what you really fought was his Heartless. Ya see, he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was."

The three heroes look at the giant photo, trying to put together what Mickey just said. "You mean…" Sora starts, before pausing to think about it some more, looking over at Donald and Goofy. A few moments later, it sinks in, and all three of them say the same thing. "WHAT?"

"We went through all that trouble just to defeat an impostor?!" Obviously, Sora is not thrilled with the answer. All the trouble, all the pain, just to pummel an impostor?

"Yep. A fake. But he still had to be stopped." He sees Donald's somewhat crest-fallen look, and Goofy mentioning his confusion, and if that was the fake, where the real Ansem was. "Welp, that's just what I'm tryin' to figure out." Turning towards the hallway to the computer Room, Mickey looks ahead. "Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization XIII's plans, and what's been happening to the worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help. Ya know, I came close to finding him once…"

Goofy begins to tap his temple, trying to get his brain cooking.

"Don't tell me there's more! I'm lost enough as it is!" If you were to look at Sora, you could see an eye twitching. Not only was he confused, he was also getting really aggravated. A fake Ansem, all these different people calling themselves Ansem… It was driving him stir-crazy.

"Well, let's see. Some feller named Ansem, who wasn't really Ansem, became a Heartless." Amazingly enough, he said it is such a simple way, that it helped Sora understand it better. "Does that mean a Nobody got created when that happened, too?"

Mickey nods in agreement with Goofy's question. "Yup! And that Nobody is the leader of the Organization." Once again the three heroes are shocked. "I know I've met this fake Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization XIII, too. Hmm, kinda felt like bein' around the same fella." When Sora asked where he met this fake Ansem, the King replies, "Gosh… I can't remember." Pausing a small while, Mickey continues. "Ansem the Wise – the real Ansem – must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it."

Sora glares at the photo of the fake Ansem, anger in his eyes. "You! You started all of this! Because of you, Riku and Kairi…" He pauses, remembering what he needed to ask the king about. "Your Majesty, do you know where Riku is?"

The King moves a little bit. "He's…" He then sighs. "I'm sorry. I can't help."

Sora looks down at the small mouse King, really having trouble accepting this. And it seems that Mickey was hiding something. "Really, Your Majesty? Are you sure?"

"I'm sorry, Sora." He turns away from Sora, as a sign of shame.

"What about Kairi? Organization XIII might've kidnapped her." He has his hands open and out, wanting help.

Mickey turns abruptly, facing Sora, a small sign of shock on his face. "Oh, no!" He looks at the portrait of the fake Ansem one more time to contemplate, and then continues to speak. "Sora, Donald, Goofy." He turns to face them. "I was planning to go get help from Ansem the Wise. But, now I know I forgot the most important thing. Helping others should always come before asking others for help. We're safe and sound – and free to choose! So, there's no reason wo shouldn't choose to help our friends." The heroes nod their head in agreement. "Let's look for Riku and Kairi together."

Just after that, a massive slam is felt throughout the castle, one that which nearly knocks the King off his feet. "Outside!" Sora's statement re-focuses the King. "Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!"

With the King taking point, the others rush outside the study, and back into the corridors. When they reach the corridors, they find the King gone, and Heartless and Nobodies fighting each other, and off to the side? None other than Pete, that bumbling cat-like oaf. And by his side? Maleficent, who was thought to have been defeated back when they took down that fake Ansem.

"Hear me, my Heartless! Attack the white husks! Sweep them away!" Maleficent is calm, confident, not at all worried about the Nobodies.

However, Pete is the complete opposite. Quaking in his jumpsuit, he looks at Maleficent. "What, are you nuts? We're never gonna win! I don't know about you, but I'm outta here, sister!" Following his words he runs as fast as his rather pudgy body can take him.

Maleficent glares back at where Pete once stood, disgust in her face. "You pathetic coward." She then looks back towards the Heartless and Nobodies. Hearing sound down past the fight, she sees our three heroes. Knowing very well not to face Sora directly, Maleficent vanishes in wisps of green and black. "Heartless! Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Sora and his friends!" Following her orders, the Heartless look at the heroes.

Pulling out their weapons, Sora, Donald, and Goofy inch towards the group of Heartless and Nobodies. An Armored Knight leaps up, only to be cut in half by Sora's Keyblade. The battle is soon joined by the remaining Heartless, including the new Crimson Jazz, along with the Nobodies, and their new Dancer kind. Once more, a new thought, 'Rising Sun', goes through Sora's mind. Acting upon it, he leaps into the air, and with a powerful lunge attack, begin to defeat the Heartless and Nobodies by the droves. Soon, the room is empty, save for the heroes… and Yuna, Rikku and Paine.

"Where's Maleficent?" As usual, Yuna is straight to business. After hearing that she ran away, the three fairy-like girls begin to argue amongst each other, trying to figure out what to do.

"Umm, hey… if you're looking to pick sides, why don't you pick Leon's? They can always use help." Sora just wanted them to stop arguing, but if they ended up helping, all the better.

The girls look back at the boys. "Does this Leon have any treasure?" Yuna looks at the three. Yes, those three are basically like mercenaries, being paid for their jobs.

"Yeah, lots of stuff!" Donald, you liar. You big, fat liar. And of course, the girls fall for it. Before they leave, Sora asks who they are.

"Oh, we're nothing worth mentioning. Just three treasure fanatics." Paine comments. Of course, Rikku has the last words. "Later, taters!" With that, the three vanish in their familiar flashes of light.

"Did Leon… really have any treasure?" Sora looks back at Goofy, who ends up looking at Donald, who is giving a rather nasty cackle before running outside, Sora and Donald on his webbed heels.

**KHIIR**

Outside of the castle, three Nobodies slink in front of the door, only to be knocked away by the Keyblade. "We don't have time for you!" The Nobodies, not taking 'No' for an answer, slide in to attack, only to fall by one blow from a Keyblade, a magic staff, and a shield.

The three heroes, having got rid of those pesky Dusks, run up to the platform, and are suddenly stopped by a beam of light shooting down from the sky, striking the ground in front of them. The light dissipates, revealing a kneeling man. The man pushes himself to his feet. His face is away from our heroes, but his long silver hair and that lone black wing on the man's right side is enough to say who it is. When the man turns around, his face is revealed, and his identity is absolutely confirmed, and the fear and awe begins to flow.

"Sora, it's Sephiroth!" Donald takes a step back. He knows that Sephiroth is bad news, but seeing him up close… it's a wonder he didn't just faint on the spot.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" Goofy isn't really scared, but more like awed by him. He's heard about Sephiroth, and much like Donald, his brain nearly collapses upon itself by just being in his presence.

Sephiroth gives a small 'humph'. "Did Cloud tell you that? Then he must understand now." He doesn't even move, and barely takes note of Sora and the others. He stares straight ahead, much like a machine-like man.

"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora remembers his last encounter with Sephiroth, back in Olympus Coliseum. He was lucky enough to survive, while Sephiroth was literally none the worse for wear. He's trying his best to not shake in front of him.

"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for Darkness." Still, Sephiroth looks straight ahead, not even really noticing who they are. Instead, he remains focused on his goal.

"He said he's got a score to settle with you." Sora finally shakes a little bit. Now, it seems that he really can't stop shaking.

Finally, Sephiroth looks at the group, his eyes an icy blue-green, the kind of eyes that hold the promise of death behind them. "I see… He want to meet me again." Raising his hand up, he keeps it in a almost fist-like state, as if holding something, like perhaps a heart. He then turns around and walks away from the group, that hand now lowered. "Then I should give him what he wants." Stopping, his arms stretch out from his side. "That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out." He then levitates up into the sky, and enveloped by a black light. The light disappears, and the only sign of him being there were the black feathers dropping from the sky.

Sora looks over to Donald and Goofy, then back to where Sephiroth once stood. "That's twice I've met him, and twice I survived. You two okay?" He looks back to see them nodding their heads, albeit slowly. "We just got lucky. We've gone face to face with Sephiroth, and we're still standing."

Shaking themselves out of their stupor, Donald and Goofy look ahead, towards the Restoration Site. "Leon and the others are gonna need our help, Sora. We need to hurry!"

Sora nods. This wasn't the time for this. After the battle, maybe. But now, they needed to help save Hollow Bastion from those Heartless and Nobodies. The group run towards the Restoration Site. Still, they count this little encounter almost like a religious experience, a rather frightening one at that.

**KHIIR**

Arriving at the Site, Sora, Donald and Goofy see Leon fighting off Heartless ahead of them, and Aerith close by. "We'll help!"

Aerith turns and points past Sora and the others. "Sora, behind you!" Sora looks behind him, to see more of those new Dancer Nobodies appearing behind, ready and poised to strike.

"Not good." He pulls out his Keyblade, and decides to equip that new keychain that Tron gave him. Removing the one he got from Captain Jack Sparrow, he places the new one on the Keyblade. The blade takes on a glowing blue hue, much like his clothes back in Tron's world, and the tip grows somewhat fatter, with four small prongs popping out of it. "So, this is the Photon Debugger, huh?" Testing it out on one of the Dancers, it seems just as powerful as his previously used one, Follow the Wind. Distracted, one of the Dancers grabs him by the hood of his shirt, and chucks him away.

Getting back on his feet, he shoots a Thunder spell at that Dancer, instantly frying it. "Whoa, it beefs up my Thunder attacks." Dodging another attempted Dancer grab, Sora leaps in, cutting and beating on them, before a small number of Creepers warp in. Luckily, Donald and Goofy took care of those smaller creatures. Not that much later, all the Nobodies are gone, and the three heroes look ahead, seeing Leon and Aerith rush ahead.

"The King's in the bailey. You better head over there!" Leon manages to call out before rushing off ahead.

The three follow Leon, and soon arrive at the Bailey. To their dismay, it is in tatters. The wall protecting the town from the Heartless has been broken down, and rubble is strewn everywhere. They rush to the breach in the wall, and gaze off into the horizon, where their friends set to defend the area. All their feeling is summarized in one word: "Whoa."

**KHIIR**

Within the massive chasm called the Great Maw, hundreds upon hundreds of Heartless march towards the town, ready to flow over any who are in their path like a plague. Age, gender… It meant nothing to these beasts. The people living there are nothing but food for the Heartless, and more on the cliff edges join the ones in the chasm.

Upon one of the ledges, Yuffie is seen slicing, dicing, and cutting her way through the multitude of Armored Knights. Catching her large ninja star, she stumbles back, obviously exhausted from all the battles she already went through. Above her head, a flower appears and blooms, signaling the use of a Cura spell on Yuffie. Soon, Aerith is by Yuffie's side, and they rush off to fight some more.

Within the chasm, Stitch is temporarily freed from his charm to do battle with the Heartless horde. Taking out his trademark blasters, he blows away a pair, and leaps out of the way of an Armored Knight's attack. He then retaliates with a blaster shot, destroying it.

Up above the chasm, Paine runs to the edge of the cliff, with an Armored Knight hot on her heels. Leaping over the attack, he propels herself off the Heartless' back. The creature turns, to receive a pair of kicks from Yuna and Rikku, knocking it off the edge. They give each other high-fives, but quickly flee when a large horde chase after them

Deeper still, past those teams, Cloud and Leon stand back to back, their respective blades pointing out towards the Heartless surrounding them.

"Think you can handle this many?" Leon glares at the group in front of him, his Gunblade quivering slightly in his hands. This quiver wasn't one of fear. No, this was a quiver of anticipation.

"Well… Might be tough if one more shows up." Cloud, his Buster Sword all bandaged, remains just as steady as ever. He is eager to start the fight, but he won't let those Heartless in front of him know that.

Leon gives a small chuckle. "Then that'll have to be the one I take care of." His blood is pumping, and his muscles tense. This was living to him. The thrill of taking down the Heartless, defending the people… This was what he was meant to do, and he knows that he does it quite well.

"What, you're fighting too?" Cloud allows himself a small smile. He and Leon always enjoyed giving each other small verbal barbs. Something like this battle and their dialogues, was just par for the course. Besides, they were small beans compared to what Cloud really wanted.

Without any wasted motion, both men lash out, cutting through the horde, their blades singing their marvelous song of battle.

Cloud moves ahead, continuing to cut through the myriad of Armored Knights. Yet, he allows them to surround him on all sides. To anyone, this would seem like a rookie mistake. But to Cloud… this was just where he wanted them. He turns to take count, only to hear a massive slash. Turning, he sees all those Heartless surrounding him gone, destroyed. Straight ahead of him stands Sephiroth, in all his glory, _Masamune_ drawn and extended out to the side. "Sephiroth!" Ignoring the retreating Heartless, Cloud repositions his Buster Sword, facing directly at his opposite and equal.

Not even phased, Sephiroth calmly walks forward, before stopping and pointing his massive katana towards Cloud. "I understand that you've been looking for me."

"Yeah." Just being around Sephiroth was a painful experience, and an exhilarating joy. His voice is tense, just showing how serious this is to him. "Once I get rid of you, the darkness will go away."

"Can you do it?" Sephiroth taunts Cloud. "That darkness comes from your own dark memories. Do you think you can erase your past?" All the while, he hasn't even twitched or sweated. His form is still the same, almost anticipating Cloud to take first action.

"Shut up!" Cloud's voice is forceful.

"Face it – you turn your back on the present and live in the past. Because the light of the present is too much!" Sephiroth's voice is once again taunting, daring Cloud to make the first strike.

"You don't know me!" Cloud remains steadfast in his pose, but he hears his name. Turning towards the feminine voice, he seems to be blinded. Almost as if Sephiroth's words were given literal shape and form.

By this time, Sephiroth has lowered his sword. "I know. Because… I am you." Sephiroth once again vanishes in a dark light, leaving black feathers in its wake.

By the time that Tifa arrives, Cloud has already ran away again. "Cloud! Wait!" Her call is instead heard by the Heartless, who surround her. Standing ready for battle, Tifa knocks back three Armored Knights with three swift moves, before looking towards where Cloud ran off to.

**KHIIR**

Back up near the Bailey, Sora pulls back slightly. "Leon, everybody – hang in there!" They rush forward, ready to help out anyway that they can. But before they can go past the wall, King Mickey flips down to the ground

"Okay, fellas, you've gotta go find Riku and Kairi!" With his arms outstretched, and his back towards them, Mickey is giving the three a definitive order.

"But Leon and the others are friends too!" Sora will not be deterred from helping out in battle.

"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here, and a good friend is coming by really soon." Mickey still has his back at them, and his arms up. He glances back at the three. "We'll take care of this fight."

"But… I promised Leon." Seeing the look on Sora's face as he said that just breaks Donald and Goofy's hearts. Sora was always one to stick to his promises. If he couldn't, they knew that Sora would heel absolutely horrid. And to have their King say that he wasn't needed… But, they stand up Rigid when Mickey calls their names and tells them to take Sora away. They hear Sora's little request to Riku and Kairi, for them to give him a little time, and they soften. However, they begin to plan a little bit themselves.

"Your Majesty!" Donald calls out. Goofy soon follows up with, "We understand We'll go search for Riku and Kairi!" Sora looks at them, absolutely astonished, while Mickey remains focused on the battle ahead, but telling them to be careful. Donald responds with, "You be careful, too!"

"Wait, you guys!" Sora is ready to complain, but Donald cuts him off. "Sora, do as you're told!" Goofy adds, "You're comin' with us whether ya want to or not!" Donald once again gives his two cents. "C'mon, Sora! Ya gotta be good!" But his words come with a sly wink.

Sora begins to understand what's going on, and gives a smile. "Gotcha." Goofy says his final bit, "Well then, skedaddle!" Sora mouths a silent 'Thank You' to the two of them. "Let's Go," Donald calls out, which means all three rush past King Mickey, stunning the miniscule monarch.

Looking down, Mickey sees the three of them. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty!" Sora is really honest about this, but he's a person of his promises, and not being able to fulfill it because of Mickey wouldn't stop him.

The two members of Mickey's court salute the mouse king. Donald gives a small groan, while Goofy says, "Hope you can forgive us!" With that, the three of them leap down, heading into the mouth of the Maw. Mickey looks on and gives a small sigh, but follows it with a smile. He expected them to do that, but it would have been nice if they listened instead.

**KHIIR**

Reaching the mouth of the Maw, the three heroes stop. A Dark Corridor opens up and quickly retreats, revealing Number IX of Organization XIII, Demyx. His face first seems ready for battle, but quickly goes to one of relaxation. "Hey, you guys are looking lively."

Obviously, none of the heroes are in the mood to deal with the Melodious Nocturne, so Donald summarizes what he wants Demyx to do: "Scram!" Of course, Sora adds in how they met him before, back in the Underworld. "How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"

Demyx draws back slightly from the words, almost like getting ready for battle. Of course, Sora and Donald taunt him, by saying that Demyx couldn't even fight. "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." Demyx wags a finger at them, disappointed by them. Of course, that just makes the heroes pull out their weapons, ready to beat down on him. Once again, he retreats, then turns around and talks to himself, "Oh, I told them they were sending the wrong guy…"

The heroes lower their weapons. "Who is this kook?" Sora shakes his head in disbelief. Acting brave one moment, then cowardly the next… He pauses to hear Goofy explain that the Organization was made of Nobodies. "Right – no hearts!"

This catches Demyx's attention, he swiftly turns back towards the heroes. Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad…" When Donald calls the bluff, his face turns completely different. Gone is the timid Demyx, and here is one more fierce and determined than before. "Silence, traitor." His comment is directed by pointing at Sora. Having enough, all the moisture surrounding him gathers, condensing in a sphere in his raised palm. Clenching his fist, the water ball turns into Demyx's trademark sitar weapon.

"Not again!" Donald palms his face. Facing this guy back at the Underworld was bad enough, but to do so again? This was just irritating.

"Ready for Round two? Dance water, dance!" Plucking the strings on his sitar, Demyx summons forth water, in the shape of himself, fifty in all. "Better get them all, Roxas!" The water clones begin to cascade out.

"I'm sick of that! I'm SORA!" Sora whacks one of the water clones, and acting on instinct, grabs it and flings it around his head, which causes the clone to collide with others, destroying them. Within seconds, the entire horde of fifty are gone, leaving Demyx undefended.

"Uh-oh!" He leaps away from the heroes, knocking them back with the water spouts he leaves in his wake. "Like it?!" More water spouts surround him, acting like a barrier. Yet, he stupidly leaves himself open to a pair of Thunder spells. And since water conducts electricity, Demyx gets a massive jolt. After shaking loose the cobwebs, Demyx gives a small and rather evil smile. "Alright, feel the beat!" Moving along, waves of water shoot up from the ground, acting like walls, protecting him from their physical attacks.

Obviously not impressed, Sora and Donald continue to rain down Thunder spells on Number IX, pausing long enough to use Ethers to replenish their Magic. Soon, a paired up Thunder magic strikes Demyx. The combined Thunder spells forces the Nobody to kneel down, and he looks on as his sitar vanishes. He manages to get out one last moan, before breaking apart. Within a few seconds, Demyx, the Organization's Number IX, is nothing more than a memory.

Still filled with adrenaline, and miffed at being called Roxas again, Sora yells out, "Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?!" However, Donald and Goofy snap him out of his little rage, reminding him to help out his friends. "Oh. Sorry." But, before they can walk off to help, the three of them hear the King, right behind them. They turn, seeing the King.

Mickey walks forward, his face stern, like a parent ready to discipline a child. That face makes the three heroes feel rather sheepish. Still he can't help but sigh, and his face softens. "You sure have lotsa friends to help." He brightens up when he sees them become a bit more at ease. "So, I guess we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!" Hearing and seeing them salute him, he nods and begins to walk alongside them.

Yet in the cliffs above them, a Dusk Nobody and Surveillance Robot Heartless do battle. An errant laser blast from the Heartless causes massive chunks of stone flying out. Goofy looks up, and notices one in particular, heading for the King! "Look out!" Pushing Mickey out of the way, he takes the massive chunk of stone to the head, knocking him back, and his head colliding with the sheer cliff wall on the opposite side.

Sora and Donald rush to their friend's aid, as does King Mickey. Looking down at Goofy's prone body, they are in absolute shock at what just transpired. Mickey stops halfway, his face sullen. "No…"

Donald is the first to reach Goofy's side, and tries to shake him. "Hey! You're the King's Captain! You gotta get up!"

Sora yells out, "C'mon, wake up!" Goofy was always the one person he could trust on, that always faithful friend.

"I'm sorry about the ice cream!" Donald is trying to jar something, anything, out of the prone dog-man's body.

"Goofy?" Mickey just stands back there, in absolute shock. Goofy was faithful to him for years, and stood by him by even the toughest of times.

Donald begins to sob, unable to get Goofy to do anything. Sora moves a little closer. "This is not happening… It can't be happening… It can't…"

Mickey has seen enough. Clenching his fist, he looks off to the side. "They'll pay for this." With one swift movement, he removes the Organization cloak, revealing his new garb underneath. It is a version of Sora's old outfit, with yellow shoes, and mostly red for the color. Summoning his Keyblade to his hand, he dashes off to battle. Donald, squelching in anger, follows after Mickey. Sora also gets up, taking one last look at Goofy. He then runs off, racing to catch up to Donald and the King, his Keyblade drawn and ready.

Goofy lays there, absolutely still, not moving, and not even breathing.

**KHIIR**

Once again, I went well above and beyond what I thought I could do with this chapter. Over five thousands words, thereby making it the lengthiest chapter to date. I had to do it like this, because I felt that Goofy's little incident was a good place to stop. Besides, I really got a kick out of writing those Sephiroth areas. The way he is presented in the game is absolutely badass! I just hope that my descriptions are somewhat adequate. Besides, I just realized that I hit 20,000 words already with this chapter! I am really ahead in reach of my 100,000 word goal.

Now, as a counter for people saying that I might be making Sora seem out of character, you have to realize that I went on his tone and stance during those moments. So, they fit. If he's angry, I'll state it. Besides, no one can stay happy forever. That is absolutely impossible. By all means, Sora is no saint, and even he can lose his temper. So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.

PS: Don't worry. Mickey's friend is coming within the next two chapters. So, be patient.


	8. The Great Maw

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 8: The Great Maw

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is.

**KHIIR**

Pausing for a moment, Sora gives a silent curse, he lost track of King Mickey and Donald. They rushed too far ahead. All he could hope to do was catch up to them. Looking around, he sees a few Shadows. The are really no biggie to him, and having Just left Goofy by himself… He just can't wait to vent out a little justice.

"Sora!" A puff of smoke appears in the middle of the Shadows, revealing Yuffie, her giant shuriken and all. "Didya miss me?" When she sees that he doesn't respond, he looks back only to see him begin to beat down on one of those Shadow Heartless. "Jeez, Sora, what's wrong?"

"Goofy…" That is all that Sora can mutter, before getting back to the matter at hand; beating the crap out of the Heartless in front of him. Using a few Thunder spells, he blasts them into oblivion, before moving on ahead, completely ignoring Yuffie.

"Sora, what gives?" Yuffie looks back to Aerith, who leaped down from one of the small cliffs. "He said something about Goofy. Try backtracking to find out what happened." Aerith nods, and she runs towards the open area from where Sora came from.

Sora enters a ravine-like area, and two barriers go up, preventing him from continuing on. More Heartless appear, but Leon leaps down from a nearby cliff, ready to help Sora fight off these Heartless. Channeling energy into his Gunblade, it grows to massive proportions. He then begins to cut through the Heartless, seeing that Sora is keeping pace. Soon, there are none left. Sora moves on, leaving Leon to continue defending that area.

Up ahead is another open area, similar to the one that Sora blew Yuffie off in. Another two barriers go up, once again trapping him. This time, Tifa jumps in to assist. Now, Sora does his best to keep up, but he finds that he has trouble doing so. Tifa is a lot faster than him, and seems to pack just as much of a punch as him with her punches and kicks. Besides, the way she looks… Sora shakes himself free of THAT kind of thinking. He needed to focus. He gets smacked against a wall by one of the Morning Stars, and blocks it from going any farther. He presses it back, knocking it into the path of Tifa's Final Heaven attack. Pushing himself away from the wall, he sees one of those Armored Knights, and that familiar 'Rising Sun' thought comes back. He uses it, cutting through massive chunks, and the last lunge getting rid of the last one.

The barrier falls down, and Sora rushes ahead. Just in front of him is a crack in a wall, leading out of the gorge. Yet, another two barriers come up, preventing him from continuing. Cloud leaps down, plunging his Buster Sword into the ground, launching appearing Heartless into the air. Noticing that one of them is a Surveillance Robot, Sora grabs it, and forces it to use the Sparkle Ray, which blows away one part of the Heartless wave. This gives Cloud enough time to channel his energy, and unleash that infamous Omnislash. The both of them cut a swath through the Heartless, and soon, none are left. Cloud gives a nod of the head to Sora, then leaps out of sight, ready to do more battle. Seeing that there was nowhere else to go, Sora enters the hole in the wall.

Taking a look inside, he finds the fissure lined with crystal, and ahead are Donald and Goofy, both exhausted and wounded from their battles. Seeing them makes Sora realize that he feels quite exhausted, and that he took quite a beating himself, and leans against a wall for support. Hearing the King ask how he is, Sora replies, "Yeah, I'm fine, but…" The sentence lingers. Donald moans for Goofy, as all their faces drop in sorrow.

"Hey, fellas!" That familiar voice snaps the three out of it, and the look towards the entrance of the fissure, absolutely gob-smacked, before yelling out, "Goofy!" There in runs Goofy, almost as if he was never got hit in the head by a hundred pound lump of rock. He reaches them, and grabs his head. "Ya know, that really hurt!" Mickey grabs onto Goofy in a tight hug. "Gawrsh, Your Majesty, I get bumped on the head all the time. Besides, Aerith found me and used one of her healin' spells on me. Rather nice of her."

Sora gives a rather weak laugh and Mickey gets down from his hug, while Donald walks up to Goofy, and taking his staff, smashes it right where one of Tifa's errant book throws hit earlier.

Hopping up and down, Goofy grabs his shin in pain, much like when the book hit it. "That hurt, too." Donald scolds him for what happened, and the King breathes a sigh of relief. Even during these trying times, the way these two tended to act towards each other always gave him a smile on his face.

However, Sora isn't focused on Goofy's newfound health. Yes, he was happy that Goofy was all right. But, he knew very well, that unless the job was finished , something like that could happen again, and he didn't want to go through that again. Looking out of the exit of the fissure, he sees the Great Maw itself, a massive gorge, filled to the brim with Heartless. Healing up, he gets ready to go down into the Maw, but Mickey stops him.

"Sora, you need to calm down. Going in there angry will end up costing you." The mouse's words calm Sora down, and allow him to clear his head. "I know this will most likely be our toughest battle so far, but we can't afford to give up. Our friends will need all the help they can get." Sora nods his head in agreement. "Sora, try your best to remain relaxed. Trust me on this. We may get split up again, so try to focus on what you have to do, and not on what else may be going on."

"I understand. Thanks, Your Majesty." He looks towards his friends, letting them get healed up. Seeing that they are just as eager as he is to enter the Maw, he looks over to the King. He sees Mickey nods, and the four of the descend into the Maw. After running ahead and taking care of small patches of Heartless, the four stop. They look around, and notice that the majority of the Heartless are just standing there, not moving.

Goofy points far off in the distance. The four look ahead, and find a familiar Dark Corridor open up. It vanishes, leaving another member of Organization XIII standing where the portal once was. The Member puts down his hood, revealing long silver hair… hair similar to that of the Ansem imitator. As it was best said by Donald, "It's the guy who's NOT Ansem!" This was the leader of Organization XIII, Xemnas.

Looking at that face, Mickey's memory finally snaps in. "Wait a minute. Now I know! Back during one of my earlier talks with Ansem the Wise about the worlds, I met one of his assistants. That man was called Xehanort, and he wanted to continue with research Ansem banned!

"Now I remember! Xehanort! Ansem's Apprentice! The leader of Organization XIII is Xehanort's Nobody!" With that, Mickey draws his Dark Realm Keyblade and rushes ahead, meaning to catch up to Xemnas. Sora and the others try to follow them, but they are soon surrounded on all sides by Heartless.

"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Donald looks ahead, trying to see a way through the Heartless. He looks back, and sees Sora give a glance, which he responds with a thumbs-up. With that, both He and Goofy split off, meaning to take down as many Heartless as they can, all the while making their way to Xehanort's Nobody.

Sora looks back, then back towards his rather large group of Heartless. Without a second thought, he rushes straight in, beating, hacking and slashing away. He gets through twenty of them before realizing that doing the battle this way will take far too long. He manages to dodge an incoming laser halo from a Surveillance Robot, but runs into a blunt-side smack of a Armored Knight's blade. Moving back, he kicks a Heartless off of him, and gets back to his feet.

He hears dozens of calls of 'Rising Sun' within his head, as well as quite a few 'Snag' calls as well. Using one of the Rising Sun calls, he cuts down another ten within moments. Snagging a Surveillance Robot, he triggers it's Sparkle Ray, and the massive beam takes out another thirty Heartless down. Still there are hundreds to go, and they are all chomping at the bit.

Knowing very well that the Sparkle Ray is the best way to get rid of these beasts, Sora keeps an eye open for one Surveillance Robot to fly nearby. When it does, he snags it and forces it to use the Sparkle Ray, taking out another thirty or so enemies. Within a minute, two hundred are gone, but eight hundred still remain. Yet, most of the ones gone are Surveillance Robots, leaving only five left, and all the rest being those Armored Knights. He uses Sparkle Ray one more time, and thirty more are destroyed, including four of the five remaining Robots.

An Armored Knight leaps up and knocks Sora away from the Surveillance Robot, and also inadvertently destroys is, leaving no Robots left, and as such, the ability to use the Sparkle Ray. Still this wouldn't deter Sora. Instead, he goes back to using the Rising Sun ability, getting rid of fifteen with each command use. After 5 more minutes, there is only ten Armored Knights left, and Sora is battered badly. He has no potions left, and not enough Magic to cast a healing spell on himself. He also notices that there is no more chances for him to use Rising Sun.

"Looks like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." Sora leaps up, cutting one Armored Knight leaping at him. Landing on his feet, he blocks an incoming slice, before sliding around and slicing the attacker himself. Two more spin towards him, and using Explosion, he blasts them away. He can feel his body begin to cramp up from all the battles. He tosses his Keyblade like a boomerang, striking another three. This leaves four left. But Sora is nearly done for. The remaining four Armored Knights can sense this, and they move in closer. They surround him on all four sides, and pulls back for the killing stroke.

Sora drops in exhaustion. However, it seems that luck was on Sora's side, since the four Knight's attack ended up destroying each other. Sora lays there, in the dirt of the Great Maw, exhausted but victorious. Reaching into a pocket that he could never reach while fighting, he pulls out an Elixir. Uncorking it, he pours the foul liquid down his throat. It burns, but it does the job provided. He feels himself back to peak performance, and his Magic is fully restored. Back on his feet, he continues towards the Dark Depths.

Arriving, he props himself up against a nearby sheer cliff wall. That Elixir might have made him healthier, but he still felt the fatigue from that battle. And deep down, he is wishing, he is praying, that he will never go through something like that again. Looking back, he sees Donald and Goofy arrive, in a similar exhausted state. Yet, the King isn't with them. He looks off towards the cliff, and sees the King, continuing to fight. "C'mon!" He rushes towards the king, with Donald and Goofy close behind.

**KHIIR**

Standing behind Xemnas, Mickey glares at him. Breathing hard, and still holding onto his Keyblade, he is caught off guard by Donald's voice. He looks back towards the trio, before focusing back on, "Xehanort!"

Xemnas lifts his head up. "How long has it been since I abandoned that name…" His voice is deep, powerful, truly that of someone who tends to be in control.

"Out with it, Nobody! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku!?" The battle, the exhaustion, all of it is finally catching up with Sora, and his temper is really short.

"I know nothing of any Kairi." Once again Xemnas' voice speaks volumes. He then turns to face the group. "As for Riku… Perhaps you should ask your king."

Sora looks down at the diminutive monarch, who rushes towards Xemnas. The Organization's leader opens a Dark Corridor, disappearing in it. Yet, the King leaps into it himself, both of them vanishing from Hollow Bastion. Sora looks on, and his faces goes sullen. He just plops down on the ground, and begins to pound it with his fist. The King has gone missing, once again. Goofy puts a hand on his shoulder, making him stop.

Getting back to his feet, Sora gazes out towards the Great Maw, which is now completely devoid of any Heartless activity. Goofy looks on, wondering what's going on.

"Way to fall right into their trap." The three heroes turn around, and gaze at the source of the voice. It is a man in an Organization cloak, with flaming red hair, and looking relatively skinny. Small tattoos are marked underneath his turquoise eyes. The trio prepare for another battle, no matter how exhausted they may be. However, the man has other ideas. "C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless – that's his big master plan." Seeing their confusion, the guy in red continues. "The guy you just saw. He's their leader. Got it memorized?" He taps near his temple, showing how important it is. "X-E-M, N-A-S."

After hearing Goofy's question, clarifying that the Organization wants to get rid of the Heartless, the man sighs. "Man, you're slow." He then points to the Keyblade. "Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade releases a captive Heart. That is what the Organization is after." When Donald asks what they need the hearts for, the guy replies, "I'm not telling." Then of course, Sora realizes that this was the guy who kidnapped Kairi.

"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Once again, Axel points to his temple, telling them to remember it. Now, Sora asks where Kairi is. Axel scratches just beneath his hairline, before sighing. "Look, about Kairi… I'm sorry."

"Axel!" The aforementioned man looks around, trying to find the source of the voice. Another Dark Corridor opens up, revealing another member of the Organization, Saix. Panicking, Axel flees. Sora tries to chase after him, but Saix stops him. "We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment."

"I don't care about any of that! Just let me into the realm of darkness, okay!?" Sora's face is one of desperation.

"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't." Saix turns around and faces Sora "We're taking very good care of her."

"Take me to her." Once again Sora's face is a mask of desperation.

Saix looks off in the distance, and notices something off. There was some sort of blue object… No, there's nothing there now. It must have only been a mirage. Focusing back on Sora, Saix asks him, "Is she that important to you?" Hearing how important she is, he now asks Sora to show how important. Sora ends up on his hands and knees, asking. "So, you really do care for her. In that case…the answer is no."

Sora leaps up, obviously upset. Saix just toyed with his emotions and he didn't like it one bit. "Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless." Snapping his fingers, four Armored Knights appear behind him. Looking up to the sky, Saix comments, "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free, until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist." He finally looks back at the trio, the plans finally revealed.

"What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?" Maleficent appears behind the trio, green and black dissipating, her face towards Saix. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me!" Her eyes light up with the thought of it. "The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY dominion!" Ignoring Sora's plea of no more Heartless, she summons some Soldiers to surround Saix.

"Fool…" Saix snaps his fingers again, this time Dusks answering the call. The Dusks destroy the Soldiers, but then focus towards Sora and the others. Yet, Maleficent places herself in front of the trio, and creating a wall of green flame.

"While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them – forever!" Maleficent, trying to help the heroes? After what happened during the trio's first adventure? Yet, this is overlooked by the Dusks leaping onto her, and trying to pin her to the ground. "Do not misunderstand me. I shall have my revenge on you yet." Two more Dusks leap onto her. "Leave! Now!" The flames die away, and Maleficent has vanished.

"Now then. Where did we leave off?" Saix snaps his fingers once again, calling away the Dusks, and summoning back the Armored Knight Heartless. "Know this, Sora. The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest." With that, Saix directs two Armored Knights to attack.

Sora immediately defends himself, and destroys them. Looking up, he sees the hearts released by his Keyblade begin to get covered in darkness, then vanish. "No! The hearts!" Sora holds back an attempted attack from one of the Armored Knights, then pushes it back. "Maybe everything we've done… Maybe it was all for nothing. What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade!?"

"Imbeciles! You can't be trusted to do anything!" Using a little of her power, Maleficent transports the trio away from the Heartless, who then promptly disappear for not having their target. She then guides the trio into the Realm of Darkness.

Sora, realizing where he is, begins to call out for Kairi and Riku. Neither one is found, but another person wearing an Organization Cloak is standing there, holding a box. He sees the man vanish, and Donald taking the box. Opening it, they find a photo of the three kid from Twilight Town, along with someone else. Somehow, Sora is able to identify the fourth kid as Roxas, despite not ever have met him. Beside the photo, is a bar of blue ice cream, with a strange mix of salty and sweet. The ice cream glows, showing that it is one of the items meant to reveal the way to the Keyhole. Closing it off, they are teleported back to their Gummi

**KHIIR**

Back near the chasm, Leon and Cloud keep post of what is transpiring. They both saw Sora take on those thousand Heartless, and that just cements a little more respect towards the Keyblade wielder. Yet, they both are looking out to where Sora is, when they see a piercing beam of light shoot up from the ground. "Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Leon is obviously worried. Even someone like him would be exhausted after all those battles.

"Relax. Those three aren't going down that easily." Amazingly, Cloud is much more optimistic about Sora and the others. Turning around, he begins to walk away, but not before giving his last thought; "The Keyblade's chosen one… He's a lucky kid."

Leon looks up to the sky, following the beam of light. "See you soon." Turning back himself, Leon heads back to the Bailey.

**KHIIR**

"I guess sometimes help comes from unexpected places." Sora looks back at Donald, the three of them back on the Gummi.

"Sure does!" Soon, the three of them begin to discuss how they managed to get here, trying to get all the facts straightened out.

"A photo and some ice cream? Hmm. Wonder if they're some sort of clue? And who woulda left 'em for us, anyway?" Goofy tries to figure it out.

"Riku?" Goofy asks Sora if this is possible, which he responds with, "Just this feeling I got." Hearing Donald's comment of them almost arriving, Sora asks another question. "Hey, what if the Heartless are back again? I can't use the Keyblade – that would only help the Organization."

"But Sora, I think ya have to use it. If we don't fight 'em, the Heartless'll keep on hurtin' folks." Once again, Goofy make the logical deduction. Not much else is said, and the trio sit in the cabin of the Gummi, in silent contemplation.

**KHIIR**

Chapter 8 is now complete, with three thousand words to boot. I admit, the more that I write, the more I enjoy it, although I have been pretty much typing for the past 10 hours straight, and it is around 3:30 in the morning where I'm at. Thank God it's summer, huh? Anyhow, the next chapter is where everything begins to change. I have spent a lot of time going through the grind to get to this point. And that time is nearly there! So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.

PS: I will try to get up the rest of this block of the story up ASAP. I've been sitting on my hind, trying to find ways to express it in word. Well, the time for messing around is over, and that first block of the story will be done!


	9. The Strange Man

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 9: The Strange Man

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is. Also, I will say that I do not own the new stuff as well. The new stuff belongs to their respective owners

**KHIIR**

Up in the Gummi of our three heroes, Sora, Donald and Goofy sit there in silence. So much has happened within such a short amount of time. Kairi was kidnapped by the Organization. Riku was nowhere to be found. And King Mickey chased off after the leader of the Organization, Xemnas. Besides, they nearly lost Goofy during the battle. All in all, things were not well. Still, they managed to protect Hollow Bastion from a massive influx of Heartless and Nobodies, with luckily no casualties.

"I wonder how things are doing down there?" Sora's face is still crestfallen. After finding out that the Organization was using him to obtain hearts, he still wonders how he'll be able to fight back. If he didn't, he'd have his heart taken. If he did, he would end helping Organization XIII. Ine the end, he really has no choice but to fight back.

"We should head down and see, Sora." Goofy sets the Gummi to teleport them down. "Besides, I doubt we found everything lying around." He knew enough that grabbing those bits of treasure will help set Sora's mind at ease. If anything, they'll find something rather cool, and Sora's face will light up.

"Yeah, you're right." Sora leans back. Maybe that little bit of treasure hunting will help him out. He always enjoyed looking at what he was able to get, and maybe he could also get a chance to synthesize more items. It has been a while since they visited Mog the Moogle. The three heroes leave the Gummi, returning back to Hollow Bastion.

**KHIIR**

"So, Sora, where do we go first?" The three of them arrive at the Crystal Fissure, and Donald is looking around. The shiny nature of this place sort of gave him a headache, and it was really close to the Great Maw.

"Let's try the Restoration Site first." Sora begins to walk, but sees something out of the corner of his eye in the Maw. "Huh?" His head turns, only to find that nothing is there. "What's going on?"

"What is it Sora?" Goofy puts a hand above his eyes and looks out to where Sora is looking, obviously seeing nothing.

"I thought I saw something." Shaking his head, Sora looks away from the Maw and back towards the gorge. "Nevermind that now, we've got treasure to find." Walking ahead, he steps into the gorge.

Donald and Goofy pause for a moment. "Do you think Sora's okay? I'm worried about him." Obviously, Goofy is rather worried. He just hasn't been the same since their second visit to Twilight Town. "I'm afraid he might end up getting really hurt."

"Sora's tough, Goofy. He can handle whatever happens to him." Donald is caught off guard by Goofy's question. Sora seemed fine to him. Maybe a little out of it, but he still seemed normal. Still… "But, he does seem really worried about Riku and Kairi."

"All this stuff going on isn't good for him. I'd hate to say it, but he needs to stop and relax, maybe take a vacation." Donald nods his head in agreement. Goofy's ears rise up, when he hears Sora call out, telling them to hurry up. "Sorry, Sora!" After yelling that out to Sora, Goofy then looks to Donald. "Come on, Donald. We're needed." Donald takes the lead, with the dog-man taking a close second.

"What were you two doing?" Sora looks back at the member of the King's court. He then notices their faces. "What's going on, you two?"

"Well, Sora… we both think that you really need to relax, maybe take a vacation." Goofy starts off. "Before you say anything else, just listen. Taking a little time to relax will help out in the long run. Us just running 'round willy-nilly won't help."

"A vacation's a bad idea, Goofy! The Organization is still out there! Not to mention the Heartless. We need to stay and fight!" Sora is absolutely aggravated. How dare they suggest a vacation? How DARE they? "Don't you even care that the King is missing again!?" That comment gets him a smack in the shin by Donald's staff. "Ow!"

"Don't you say that, Sora! Of course we care! But if you keep going like this, you might end up hurting yourself or others, or worse!" Donald is furious, and he keeps whacking Sora with his staff. "We need you clear-headed, and you being so angry isn't helping!"

"I just want them back!" Sora breaks down in tears and crawls up into a ball. "I just want to be with Kairi and Riku again! It isn't fair! You've got a chance to see the King, and I have yet to see either of my friends!" More tears fall down his face, but he doesn't even try to hide them. "I just want them back. I want to go home and see my mom, and play with my friends on the islands." The tears continue to flow. "I just want things to go back to normal."

"Oh, Sora." The two of them realize just how bad Sora is, he's been away from home for far too long, and he's really missing everything. They can't blame him. He's only fifteen, and people his age shouldn't worry about saving the worlds. They're more worried about who they would date, if they'd get their license soon, and just trying to fit in. Sora never really had a chance for that. With Goofy and him helping Sora back to his feet, Donald looks down at his webbed feet awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Sora."

"That's okay." Sora wipes his nose and eyes with his bare forearm. "I've been holding back my feeling for so long, and I'm sorry I said that to you two." He looks down at the ground himself. "It was a jerk move."

"Sora, you know that we're your friends. If you need to talk to us, just ask." Goofy puts a hand on Sora's shoulder. "That's what friends are for, to help each other out."

The Keyblade's chosen one sniffs his nose, then looks up at Goofy. "Thanks, guys. I'll be sure to do that." His face is now far more relaxed. All that stress that was plaguing him has now all but vanished, and Sora seems far more peaceful.

Of course, the Heartless choose that time to attack our intrepid group. A small number of Armored Knights, along with a Crimson Jazz and two Morning Stars appear. The Crimson Jazz goes for the first attack, and throws small flaming balls towards the heroes, with two of the Armored Knights leaping into the air as backup.

Sora reacts on instinct, and pulls out his Keyblade and swats one of the flaming balls towards one of the Armored Knight, instantly vaporizing it and releasing the heart. For the moment, Sora didn't care if he was helping the Organization. The second Armored Knight lands only to get caught in one of Goofy's Tornadoes, and being repeatedly pummels by Goofy's shield. Donald uses a Blizzard spell on the Crimson Jazz, hurting it and sending it flying it back.

The Morning Stars pop out their club-ended arms, and trudge towards the heroes, their arms thrusting out. The Crimson Jazz gets back floating, and re-enter the fray, this time laying down many, many small explosive pods. Yet, as time passes, these pods grow, and some of them pop with force and fire.

Sora is sent flying into the air by the force of one of the explosive pods. Righting himself in midair, he flies towards the Crimson Jazz, and begins to hit blow after blow on it. Yet, another explosive pod pushes Sora away again, to which he responds with a Blizzara spell at the fire-wielding Heartless. The spell connects, and the floating beast is destroyed.

By this time, the rest of the Armored Knights are vanquished, but the Morning Stars remain, and they begin to slam into the ground with their entire mass, causing small shockwaves where they connect. One of them goes to land on the recently grounded Sora, with an attempt to crush him underneath its mass.

Sora is able to block the attempted crush, pushing is back upwards. He then leaps up and grabs hold of it. He repeated slams the Morning Star into the ground, until it vanishes from all the damage that it took. That last Morning Star looks around, and decides to just vanish.

"Sora, you okay?" Seeing a few cuts, burns and scrapes, Donald uses Cura on Sora, bringing him back to full health.

"Thanks, Donald." Sora rotates one of his arms, getting rid of a few cramps. "Now, let's get that treasure." Walking ahead, he looks back at his partners. "Come on, guys. Those chests can't wait forever." Once again his voice is cheerful, and ready for the challenges that lay before him.

**KHIIR**

"Well, that was a bit useful. Thanks, Mog." Sora steps away from that floating Moogle, holding the spoils of his synthesizing spree. "Take a look at all that I made. Some earrings, some more armor, a couple of items…" Sora sees that neither Donald nor Goofy are looking back at him. "Hey, what's up?" He pockets the items.

"We're pretty sure that we saw something up there, Sora." Goofy points past Huey's accessory shop. "We're just wondering if we should tell Leon about it."

"We can handle it. Come on, guys!" Rushing ahead, Sora heads up the stairs, leading behind the accessory shop. He pauses, when he sees what is in front of him. "A blue box?" Yes, in front of Sora, is a blue box, taller than any of them. It looked a lot like those telephone booths, except for the color. Sora puts a hand to his chin, and crooks his head to the side, looking at it. "This wasn't here before." He walks up to the door, and touches the handle.

"Sora, be careful! We don't know what it is, or what may be inside!" Donald tries to pull Sora back from the box, but he ends up losing his grip on the Keyblader's hand and landing on his rump.

"Come on, Donald, it's just a box." Sora feels the door open, yet all he did was touch the handle. He looks back, and right in front of him, is a head popping out of the open door of the box. Messy brown hair with sideburns, brown eyes, and a twinkle in the man's eyes that's borderline mischievous outline the man's face, but it is the smile that catches Sora off guard. The teenager leaps back, obviously flustered. "Whoa! Sorry!"

"It's all right. Still, not that many people can see through the perception filter." The man's accent is odd. It seems similar in style to Merlin's, but it seems far more modern than the wizened wizard's. "Oh, hold on." The door closes and just as quickly re-opens, and the man steps out, before locking the door behind him. He pockets the key, before looking at the three. He's still smiling, and is now fully focused on our heroes. "Go ahead, say it."

"Who… Who are you?" Sora has his head cocked to the side, taking in the sight of the man. Besides that face, the man stands there, wearing a pinstripe suit and a brown felt overcoat. On the man's feet are a pair of red and white sneakers, which seemed to clash with the suit. _He's really bizarre._

"Well, what's in a name?" The man chuckles, but he only sees the trio cross their arms at him. "Shakespeare? No? Well…" He gives a small chuckle, but getting no response, he gets straight to the point. "I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor? Doctor who?" Donald's beak is slightly open at this guy. This guy makes Goofy seem smart, and that's quite a feat.

"That's it. The Doctor, that's my name." To the Doctor, he never really gets tired of that introduction. So many people ask, and he always gets a kick out of their faces when he gives his name. "Well, since I gave you my name, how about yours?"

"Oh, right." Sora is still a little weary of this 'Doctor', but the Doctor really gave no reason that he was a threat to them. "I'm Sora, and that's Donald and Goofy."

"Right, nice to meet ya." The Doctor puts a hand out to shake Sora's, which he gets. He also gets a shake from Goofy, and a somewhat apprehensive one from Donald. Itching his sideburn, he continues on. "I'm a bit curious. Have you seen someone recently? About yea high…" He holds a hand to around his hips, showing the height, "Large round ears, a tail, and wielding a Keyblade? He called for me earlier."

"The King!?" All three of the heroes are stunned. This guy knew the King? "The King was here not that long ago, but…" Sora looks towards the Borough. "He ran off to keep track of Organization XIII."

"Ah, always like him, chasing after trouble. Even after all these years…" The Doctor itches the back of his head. "So, not to pry, you mind leading me around here? It's been ages since I last visited." Seeing that the trio have already run off towards the Borough, the Doctor can't help but smile. _I always loved a good run._ He chases after the three. He soon finds himself in front of a house having followed the three. "This is it? Not much, but still…" He enters the house.

Inside, the Doctor looks around, and is somewhat perplexed. "What's with the mess? Machines on one side, and…" He notices a bag off to the side. "Oh. Is that what I think it is?" He walks to the bag, and picks it up. He then can't help but chuckle. "Oh, it is."

"May I ask what you are doing with my Bag of Holding?" Merlin puffs in, his arms crossed, not able to see the face of the person. "That happens to be a gift from an old friend of mine, and if I lose it…"

"You aren't going to lose it, Merlin. I'm just surprised that you still have it after all these years." The Doctor turns around, and looks at Merlin. "Remember me?" Having Merlin shake his hand and give him a hug only confirms that Merlin does indeed know who it is. "It's been ages, Merlin. Still looking the same as ever, I see."

"But what about you, Doctor? New hair, new clothes… you seem like a completely different person!" Merlin can't help but chuckle. He knows about the Doctor very well. Heck, the Doctor posed as him for a short time when he fell a bit under the weather.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Sora looks completely puzzled, as does Donald and Goofy.

"Oh, I met Merlin ages ago! And you haven't even aged one bit! How do you do it?" The Doctor can't help but chuckle.

"An old man like me has to keep some of his secrets. Now, I understand that you were looking for the King? Well, I'm afraid you just missed him." Merlin goes over to his table and sits down, pouring himself some tea. "Want some?

"Oh, it's been a while since I had a good cuppa." Grabbing a chair, the Doctor sits down. Taking the teacup handed to him, he takes a sip. "Still have the touch, Merlin." He then looks over to Sora, Donald and Goofy. "Come on, relax a little. Being so focused and determined isn't healthy."

The three of them sit down on Merlin's bed, watching the Doctor and Merlin chatting and having their tea. "Uh, Doctor?" He looks towards Sora. "You said the King contacted you earlier. What did he want from you?"

The Doctor finishes his cup of tea, before speaking again. "Well, His Majesty wanted me to help with the Heartless, and also to help him find Ansem the Wise. Sadly, nothing good came from either bit. Maleficent and Pete aren't that diplomatic, and there's been no sign of Ansem anywhere." He shrugs.

"You tried to be diplomatic with the Heartless? They don't care about that sort of stuff. They just want to take hearts!" Sora shakes his head. This Doctor was a bit touched in the head to him.

"It's always best to show some signs of diplomacy to any race, at least once. I gave the Heartless theirs, and they didn't take it." The Doctor sighs before continuing. "I honestly lost of how many times I tried to do the same with the Nobodies. Each time, no success. I swear, those two are amongst the worst…" He then looks at the three of them in a group, and an old familiar feeling returns to bother him. "You know, I'm sure we can help each other out."

"Huh?" Sora looks at the Doctor, utterly confused.

"I can take you around. Some other worlds have been connected, and to be honest, I can't do that much by myself. Any help I can get is appreciated." Of course, there is another reason behind it, but that is one that the Doctor wants to keep to himself.

"Hold on!" Donald waves his hands. "You expect us to just up and travel with you? Nu-uh! No way! Besides, we have our own Gummi. We can find those worlds by ourselves!"

""Not that easy. Those worlds are way out of reach of pretty much any Gummi ship out there. But, my ship can take us there, without any problems." Clenching his hands together, the Doctor looks at the three. "So, what do you say?"

Sora looks at Donald, who is shaking his head furiously. Then he looks over to Goofy, who merely shrugs his shoulders. "Well… If it's to help protect those worlds, I guess we can."

"Oh, brilliant!" Leaping up from his chair, the Doctor grabs all three of them in a hug. Of course, Donald nearly passes out due to the lack of air, and the hug is soon released. "Sorry. Now, grab what you need. Meet me by where we first met." He looks back at Merlin. "Thanks again for the tea." He then heads out of the house.

Sora looks at Merlin. "Is he always like that?"

"Give him time. You'll come to get use to his little eccentricities." Merlin takes another sip of his tea. "Lord knows it took me a while." Seeing Sora's face, he quickly adds in, "Nothing to worry about. He's a good person, and he'll go out of his way for you."

"Thanks, Merlin." The three of them get to their feet and exit, their talks going to that of their new, and to be honest, rather odd companion.

**KHIIR**

Yes, Chapter Nine is done! Now, I know some people will rant and rave, saying 'Doctor Who doesn't belong with Kingdom Hearts!' Well, deal with it. This is my story, and if I want to have the Doctor in it, I'll put the Doctor in it. Besides, I can see similarities between the two. So, try to keep an open mind with this story. Please do so. So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.

PS: I will explain things later or at least try to.


	10. The TARDIS

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 10: The TARDIS

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is. Also, I will say that I do not own the franchise of Doctor Who. That is the property of the BBC. However, the idea for this story is mine.

**KHIIR**

"Donald, I still can't believed that you lied to those three!" Sora glares at Donald, obviously a bit miffed about what Donald had said to Yuna, Rikku and Paine earlier. That lie of Donald's could have cost them all their items, if it wasn't for those three little fairies feeling sorry for our heroes.

"You got a keychain out of it! Don't complain, Sora!" Of course, the mallard is talking about the new shape Sora's Keyblade has taken. "Besides, I had to say something. You gave the suggestion that they help Leon, and if I didn't lie, they wouldn't have helped."

"It still wasn't a nice thing to do, Donald." Goofy continues with his gangly walk. "What if they did take our items instead? We'd be in serious trouble."

"Ah, phooey!We could take them if we wanted to." Obviously, Donald isn't budging from his point of view on the events that had transpired.

The three heroes soon find themselves at the Marketplace. Contrary to what would normally happen if there was a massive attack near where people lived, things continue the way they were before the attack by the Heartless. Huey, Dewey and Louie were manning the regular posts, and Wedge the Armor salesman was still at his shop, waiting for the next customer. They also find Scrooge McDuck in heavy conversation with a recently introduced face, and that face belongs to The Doctor.

"I'm telling you, banana is the way to go!" The Doctor is waving his arms around, trying to prove his point. "Besides, bananas taste good, and are good for you."

"Absolutely not! I'm nae having this discussion with ye!" Scrooge looks past the Doctor and sees our heroes. "Boys!"

"Uncle Scrooge, what going on?" Donald looks over at the Doctor, obviously not enjoying this. He was already suspicious of the guy, but now going and harassing his uncle? Donald's opinion of the Doctor has dropped even more.

"I just want Scrooge here to develop some good and healthy banana ice cream. But he's sticking with what he thinks will get a lot of Munny." The Doctor can't help but frown. "But I'm telling him that banana ice cream will make as much money as his plan. The kids will enjoy it, and the parent will buy it since it's healthy!"

"Banana ice cream has been done to death already, sir. They need something new, and with what I have planned, it will blow the roof off of ice cream as we know it!" Now we see Scrooge's manic gleam in his eye, and a small smile creeps along his beak. "So, trot off, now. I've still got to perfect my formula." He turns around, and goes back to his regular work of finding the formula for his ice cream.

Sighing, the Doctor turns back towards the trio. "Well, since that bore nothing of use, you three ready?" He puts a hand into one of his pockets, as if reaching for something.

"Well, I think we are." Sora looks back at Donald and Goofy, who nods their heads. The Keyblade wielder then looks back at the Doctor. "I guess we are. How about you, Doctor?"

"Hold on, let me check." The Doctor begins to pull items out of his pockets. "Bananas, that's a check. Edible ball bearings… yep. Key… that's a definite." With the items that he pulls out, he notices that the heroes look at him dumbfounded. "Oh, I forgot to mention that my pockets are bigger on the inside. Now, let's see what else I have…" He goes back to fishing around his bigger-on-the-inside pockets, pulling out a myriad of knick-knacks, doo-hickeys, and thingies.

After a few minutes, the Doctor is still going through all the things he has in his pockets. Finally, he pulls out something which catches the heroes' attention: a wallet-like object. "Psychic paper, that's an absolute affirmative." He pauses before looking at them. "What?"

"Psychic paper? How does that work?" Sora grabs a hold of it, and opens it up. "Wait a minute, there's nothing here."

"Let me see." Goofy looks at Sora, who gives it up without any hesitation. Goofy looks at it, humming and hawing. "Well, there's something there now."

"I'll take that back, thank you." The Doctor takes back his Psychic Paper, but not before taking a glimpse of what was placed on it. Shaking it, he places it back in his pocket. "If you want something, ask first from now on, okay? Or, at least leave a note if I'm not around."

"Sorry." Sora puts a hand behind his head and gives a sheepish grin. "Just couldn't help it. It sounded so cool, but it ended up being a dud."

"Well, if you've given me enough time, I could have explained it." The Doctor once again goes fishing around in his pockets, and his face brightens up. "Ah. There it is. Thought I lost it." The Doctor pulls out a small cylindrical device, with a small blue orb near the top. Pressing a button on the device, the orb at the top lights up with a sound accompanying it, and the Doctor smiles. "And, sonic screwdriver is an absolute check." Seeing that Sora wants go grab it, he pulls it back. "Nu-uh, no way. I'm not giving this up under any circumstances."

"Aw, come on!" Seeing that the Doctor is now putting it away, as well as the other items, Sora shrugs at Donald and Goofy. "Guess not." He gives a small sigh, before getting back to his feet. "So, where's your ship?"

"Well, not that far off." Having finished putting away the last of his things, the Doctor gets up from his seat. "In fact, you've already seen it." He gives a small smile, seeing their stumped faces. "Come on." With that, he begins his walk.

Seeing that they really had little choice in the matter, Sora, Donald and Goofy follow the Doctor. Within a few moments, they are in front of that blue box. They finally see the sign on the top of it, saying 'Public Police Call Box'.

"Well, we're here!" Taking out his key, the Doctor unlocks the blue box.

"You can't be serious. How can all four of us fit in THERE?" Donald raises a feathered eyebrow, looking at the Doctor. "Unless that's a way to your ship inside." He's obviously thinking about those points of light that can teleport them to their Gummi Ship. However, he pauses, when he sees what's inside. What he sees is just… impossible. Inside is a giant central column and console. To put it simply, it looked alien.

Sora and Goofy see it as well and look on in awe. Goofy is the first to enter, and looks around. "It's bigger on the inside! Come on, fellas!" Donald and Sora walk in, and take in the surroundings. They instantly focus on the center column, shining a pale blue-green. Goofy goes to touch it, but a glance from the Doctor says otherwise.

"Welcome to the TARDIS. Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space." The Doctor closes the door after he enters it and locks it. "There now. Let's just hope that no one tries to latch onto it during take-off. Don't want that to happen again." Heading to the console, the Doctor messes with some of the devices on it. "So, where to? I heard that Adipose III is good around this time." He pauses and looks back at the trio. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you remember? We need to find the King." Sora shakes his head. "Can your ship be able to track him?"

"Well, it's been a while since he was last onboard. But I think he still has that TARDIS key I gave him." The Doctor pauses to go to the other side of the console. Grabbing a mallet, he smacks the console a few times. He stops, and looks over at Sora. "Tell me, does he still have his Keyblade?" When he sees Sora nod, he smiles. "Brilliant. Those Keyblades give off unique signatures. They sorta tie in with what powers the TARDIS. Hence, I can key in on it, no pun intended." He checks the monitor attached to the console, and frowns. "Odd, I got a signal inside the TARDIS." He looks around at the three heroes. "That must mean that someone here has a Keyblade."

Sora summons the Gull Wing from wherever the Keyblade goes when not in use. "Yeah. Got it a while ago."

The Doctor can't help but sigh and ruffle his already somewhat messy hair. "Well, that makes things a bit more difficult. We'll just have to do this the old fashion way." Grabbing a hold of a lever on the console, he looks over at the three. "Hold onto something." He pulls the lever and the TARDIS shudders and shakes. "Here we go!" The column glows brighter and a grinding, whirring noise is heard throughout the ship. The four are now on their way.

**KHIIR**

Finally, Chapter Ten is complete! It has been quite a while since I updated, but I had to push it aside for other things.

Also, I would also like to say that I have fellow Fanfic writer Disenchanted310 to help with editing. Many thanks are in order for this.

Now, if you have questions, don't fret! I will go over what happened in the past, and will answer some questions with the next chapter, which I will call the Block Summary. So, expect that next, then the actual next block of the story. As for a hint of where they are going, it is rather 'power'ful. So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever.


	11. Block Summary 1

Block Summary 1

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Block 1 Summary 

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is. Also, I will say that I do not own the new stuff added in, they belong to their respective owners.

**KHIIR**

Now, this isn't really a chapter, per se, but these Block Summaries are more along the lines of Jiminy Cricket's Journal. As such, they contain a brief overview of what happened during the block, along with entries for the new characters, items, enemies and the like I decide to add in. Now, let the summary commence.

**KHIIR**

Story: After finding out that Kairi was kidnapped by Organization XIII, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were called back to Hollow Bastion. When they returned, they found that the Heartless and Nobodies had increased. They also found some more friends, some old, and some new. They soon found out that Ansem had a computer in the castle. What's more was that the King was apparently with Leon over where the computer was stationed. When they arrived, they tried to gain access to the information. However, due to a combination of Sora and Donald's computer ineptness, they got transported within the computer itself.

Within the computer, Sora, Donald, and Goofy found a world in and of itself. They were quickly captured by agents of the MCP, a program wanting to take control and destroy the world outside the computer, but met a new ally in Tron, a security program. They were able to find out that to get access to the information that they needed, they required a password to access the dataspace. And who held that password? None other than Ansem.

Returning to Hollow Bastion, they finally met up with the King, who helped them with the needed password, which ended up being the names of the seven princesses of heart. With that information, they returned to the computer world.

Once they returned, they were able to give Tron the password to the dataspace. However, the MCP was able to gain control of the dataspace for a short period of time. Within the time that he was able to control it, he sent out a Hostile Program meant to destroy Hollow Bastion.

The four heroes arrived at the place where programs are sent to Hollow Bastion. Luckily, the Hostile Program didn't arrive yet. But, when they left, they had to engage the Program in battle. In short supply, they were able to defeat it. Before heading back to the User World (Hollow Bastion), the heroes explained to Tron how they were able to get the password and that Ansem was their enemy. Tron responded by saying that although Ansem was his User, Ansem also brought back the MCP, which also made him Tron's enemy. Before they fully left, Tron revealed that Sora, Donald, and Goofy are the new password to access the dataspace.

Returning to Hollow Bastion, the three heroes continued trying to get information from the dataspace. First, they tried to find Riku and Kairi with no success. Next was information on Organization XIII. They found a file, but it was stated to be corrupted. They tried the Heartless next, but ended up with the same result. In frustration, Sora began to slam the computer with his fists, which lead to revealing a picture of a man that they didn't know.

The King arrived and, noticing the picture, said that it was Ansem. The heroes looked at the King, and then brought him to the giant portrait inside of the actual study. There, the King began to explain things. It turned out that the person that they fought a year earlier wasn't really Ansem, but a Heartless that took Ansem's name. The thing is, when a Heartless is born, a Nobody is born as well. Well, it seems that the Nobody to that Heartless ended up being the leader of Organization XIII! As for whom the person originally was, the King had met him before, but he couldn't remember who it was. It was then that Sora asked the King if he knew where Riku was.

The King replied that he couldn't help, but was stunned when he heard that Kairi was kidnapped again. It was then that the massive battle began. The King ran ahead to help out in the battle, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy joining in not soon after. But before they could reach the big battle, they met up with perhaps the most feared swordsman of all worlds: Sephiroth. After their encounter, they finally reached the Bailey, which was destroyed. Ahead of them was the biggest battle yet. Heartless filled the Great Maw, and the whole of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee arrived to do battle. Before they joined in, they found the King blocking the way.

He told them to go on and find Riku and Kairi. But, instead, they jumped headlong into battle. Just ahead, though, was one of the members of Organization XIII, Demyx. After a long battle, Demyx was finally defeated and destroyed. The King caught up with the heroes by this time, and went to join them on the upcoming battle with the Heartless. Before anything else happened, a stray chunk of stone blasted by a Surveillance Robot flew out towards the King. Goofy shoved him out of the way, only to take the rather large piece of rock on the head. The two remaining heroes, along with the King, saddened and enraged at what happened, ran forward to attack.

The three got separated, and they fought their way to the Crystal Fissure, with the various members of the Restoration Committee helping out during those battles. They regrouped in the Crystal Fissure just above the Great Maw. They began to mourn for Goofy, who suddenly reappeared. It seemed that he had only gotten knocked out by the blow, and said that he gets hit on the head quite a bit. The tension was relieved, if only for a short while. They soon descended into the Great Maw, ready to do battle.

Just when they were ready to battle, the head of Organization XIII reappeared. It is then that the King remembered him. The person that came before the false Ansem Heartless and Xemnas, the Organization Superior, was Xehanort, one of Ansem's apprentices. The King ran ahead to face off with Xemnas, but the three heroes remained behind to do battle with the Heartless within the Maw. They separated, and thus began the Battle of 1000 Heartless. Sora was able to get through the battle, albeit really injured, and rejoined Donald and Goofy at the cliff overlooking the Maw, where Xemnas was located.

By this time, the King had also reached Xemnas. Sora demanded to know where Riku and Kairi are. Xemnas didn't know of Riku, but he made the remark that the King knew where he was. He teleported away, with the King leaping into the portal after him. Stunned, Sora slumped down. Yet, he was brought out of it by Axel, another member of Organization XIII. It was then that the plan was revealed: Xemnas was using Sora to destroy the Heartless, in order to get the hearts released by Sora's Keyblade.

Saix, another member of the Organization, teleported in just as Axel teleported out. He revealed that the Organization was 'taking good care' of Kairi. Sora demanded that he should see her, even going so far as to bow before Saix. However, Saix denied this, and finally revealed what they were after: Kingdom Hearts, so that they could be whole once again.

Maleficent arrived with her Heartless. Saix called some Dusks to defeat her Soldiers, and unleashed them on Sora and the others. But, Maleficent stepped in to stop them, using her body and a wall of green flame. But she was overpowered and vanished. Saix called forth Armored Knight Heartless to attack, and Sora struck them down. His attacks released hearts, which soon disappeared into darkness. Using some of her power, Maleficent pulled the heroes into the Realm of Darkness.

While there a cloaked figure appeared for a short period of time, before placing down a box and vanishing. Inside the box was a photo of the kids from Twilight Town, along with another kid whom Sora identifies as Roxas. They also found a bar of salty-sweet ice cream. With that, they were teleported back to the Gummi Ship so as to plan what to do next.

Deciding to head back to Hollow Bastion to see how things are going, Sora, Donald and Goofy disembarked. Sora went ahead, while Donald and Goofy stood behind. They noticed that Sora wasn't himself, especially after he heard that Kairi got kidnapped. They regrouped with him, and they suggested that they should take a vacation. Sora snapped at them, before breaking down. All he wanted to do was go home, be with his mom and his friends. He just wanted things to be back to normal.

After apologies and a quick battle with the Heartless, Sora and the others arrived at the Marketplace. There, they found something behind the accessory shop, something that wasn't there before: a large blue police box. They went to investigate, only to find a man inside of it. The man stepped out and introduced himself as the Doctor.

It seemed that he knew the King, and when they arrived back at Merlin's, that he knew the wizened wizard. It was during this time that the Doctor offered to help the heroes find the King once again and also to help save worlds that they have yet to see. They accepted, and they headed back to the Marketplace, to make sure that they had whatever they needed for their travels.

After gathering the things they needed and checking out all the things the Doctor had in his pockets, they proceeded to the blue police box. It turned out that this was the Doctor's ship. They didn't believe it, not until he opened the door. The inside was much larger than the outside, and didn't look human-made by any standards. They prepared to go in search of the King by using the signal of his Keyblade, but Sora's Keyblade was causing problems for that. Instead, they decided to travel and try to find him the old-fashioned way.

**KHIIR**

New Character Logs

**KHIIR**

The Doctor – Doctor Who (David Tennant)

Bio: A strange being that travels around space within a ship called the TARDIS, which is oddly shaped like a giant blue box. He seems to have connections to King Mickey and Merlin, and is shown to be rather smart. He believes in the idea of peace before fighting, but more often than not, it doesn't work. For some reason, he's hiding something, but what?

**KHIIR**

New Enemy Logs

**KHIIR**

N/A

**KHIIR**

New Item/Weapon Logs

**KHIIR**

N/A

**KHIIR**

Well, that's the first Block Summary done. Once again, one of these things will pop up after every story block, or world visit. I also want to gives thanks to Disenchanted310 for editing, as usual. And as customary, comment, review, critique, whatever.


	12. Shocking Development

Zatrion Presents:

Zatrion Presents:

_Kingdom Hearts II: The REMIX!_

Chapter 11: Shocking Development

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. It is the property of Disney and Square-Enix's cranial coupling. And what a coupling it is. Also, I will say that I do not own the franchise of Doctor Who. That is the property of the BBC. However, the idea for this story is mine. Also, I will say that I do not own the franchise that will appear in this story block.

**KHIIR**

"WHOA!" Sora is barely able to hang onto one of the railings inside the TARDIS as the box-shaped ship begins its travels. He looks over at the Doctor, who's holding onto the console of the TARDIS with all his might, as are Donald and Goofy. "Is travelling in here always like this?"

"You'll get used to it after a while, Sora." The Doctor still has a grasp on the console, but not as tight as before. "The takeoff and the landings can be a bit of a trouble spot. The ride in between, though, pretty much smooth sailing." He takes a look on the monitor attached to the console, looking at strange alien symbols. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…"

Donald and Goofy finally let go of the console and begin to wander around. Donald walks towards the back of the area, and finds a lengthy hallway. "Doctor, where does this go?" Not wanting to wait, he walks down the hallway, looking at the multitude of doors. "Wow." He decides to open one up… only to have piles of junk fall on top of his head, covering all but a single arm. "Waaugh!"

"Oop, guess you found the closet then. Sorry, I really should go and label the doors around here." The Doctor apparently followed Donald, not saying anything. "Besides, that's what you get, you nosy parker." Sniffing, he kneels down and pulls Donald out from beneath the pile of junk. "Now, if you don't mind, could you pick that up?" He leaves just before Donald can say anything. To him, Donald was just like Mickey the Idiot. He pauses for a moment, pushing down those feelings before heading back to the TARDIS console and keeping an eye open on the monitor.

Sora finally speaks up after a few hours of silence. "Hey, Doctor." Sora sees the aforementioned man look towards his direction. "Just how exactly did you meet the King? I mean, you sound as if you knew him for a while."

"Oh, we met ages ago. Lifetimes, really. You could say I was a different person when I met him." The Doctor pauses when he sees a blip on the monitor. "Ah, got something! Hang on; we're going for a landing." Seeing that all three are now holding on (Donald managed to shove the stuff back into the closet before heading back to the console room), he pulls the lever, which causes the TARDIS to shake and shudder. The accompanying whirs and grinding noises start up, which is soon followed by a thud. "We've landed. Normally, I'd give you a little talk about what this world is, and if you didn't travel before, I'd stand back and take in the shock and awe on your faces." He looks, and sees the three heroes already at the now open door.

"This place seems pretty nice. You sure your thingy worked, Doctor?" Donald looks back at the TARDIS, as the Doctor exits and locks it. "It looks far too nice to have seen the King or the Organization."

"Positive. But the TARDIS can get a bit temperamental at times. I'll have to check it out sometime soon." The Doctor finally pockets the TARDIS key. "But, I know this world. Mind you, it's been years since I was last here. It never hurts to take a look around." He sticks his right index finger into his mouth, wetting it. "Let's see…" Pulling it out, he rotates it around before pointing in a direction. "That way seems good. Come on, now." He begins to run off towards the direction he was pointing.

Donald looks up at Sora. "Do you think it was a good idea to go with him? He doesn't really seem that smart. He might be lying to us. He could be an Organization spy!" Seeing Sora's frown and small glare, he quickly appends his statement. "But, maybe we should follow. He could be useful." He quickly speeds off, trying to get away from his partners.

"Sora, you might realize that Donald may be right. We really don't know this Doctor that well. But, he and Merlin knew each other pretty well." Goofy is trying to weigh what is known about the Doctor. "But, I know that we can trust Merlin and anyone he trusts is good enough for me." Goofy runs off to follow Donald and the Doctor, leaving Sora by himself.

"Maybe I did rush off too quickly. We really don't know that much about him." Sora pauses before continuing to think out loud. "But, I know I can trust him. It had nothing to do with Merlin. I just know he's trustworthy." He begins to follow the path already set by Donald, Goofy, and the Doctor, but takes the time to pause and grab any nearby chests.

He also takes the time to look around at the surroundings. Mountains, plains, a nearby ocean and river. However, the most appealing area was the city. Massive skyscrapers dot the city, and near the outskirts, he finds the sign stating the name of the place. "Reefside? Sounds like a nice place."

**KHIIR**

Meanwhile, the Doctor looks back after his run. Apparently, none of the heroes were able to catch up to him. "That's the problem with companions these days. They tend to slug about." He puts a hand through his rather bushy hair, taking a look around. "I tell you, I've been here, but this particular area seems to be quite a bit different. Maybe I can find a place that can be of help… Ah!" He spies a promising place, with a rather apt name. "Cyberspace Café? Sounds like a bang-up place." He quickly dashes to the door and opens it, to the sounds of music and teenagers chatting away while drinking coffee products, smoothies and shakes. "Hold on a moment." Fishing around, he pulls out a few small munny spheres. Walking up to the counter, he takes a seat on one of the stools. "Excuse me? Could I get a banana shake?"

The clerk turns around, revealing it to be a female with red hair. "Sure, no problem." Grabbing a few bananas, she begins to cut them up. "I've never seen you around here before. You passing through?"

"Just trying to find someone. Got a bit of a promising lead that he could be here." The Doctor's mouth can't help but water at the promise of this concoction. "Um… Could you put a bit more in there? I honestly can't get enough of bananas. Also, could I use one of your computers?"

"Sure. They're right over there." She nods off towards a corner where another kid is typing on a computer. "I'll have Trent bring you your shake. But I would like the money first."

"Oh, sure." He places the small munny spheres on the counter before looking up. "By the way, I never got your name."

"Hayley." With her name revealed, she pulls out a few more bananas and begins cutting them up for the Doctor's shake.

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Hayley." With that, the Doctor gets up from his stool and heads over to the computer corner. Pulling back the chair in front one of the computers, he seats himself down and scoots himself closer. He begins typing on it, trying to find out just how far he was from his last visit. It has been years since he was last here, but he knows very well that this isn't the exact place he was in earlier. It's nice, but to him, Reefside is nothing like where he used to be. "Let's see here. Ah, here we are." He found the information. "Wow, it really isn't that far off."

By this time, someone has arrived with the Doctor's shake. "Here you are."

"You must be Trent. Thanks." The Doctor takes enough time to take in Trent's appearance. He looked to be around Sora's age, with dark scruffy hair, and seemingly a tinge of Hispanic in him. He takes a sip of his shake and gives a good-sized smile. "And give my thanks to Hayley. She knows how to make one good shake." He takes another sip before heading back to work on the computer. Since he's there, he might as well take a look around and see what else he can find out.

Trent takes another look at the Doctor, and at what he's doing. "So, any luck with the computer?" He takes the time to peek at what the Doctor is doing, before placing a second drink he brought with him next to the person sitting to the side of the Doctor. "Here, Ethan. Blueberry shake."

"Yep." The Doctor types a bit more, takes another sip of his shake, and looks back as Trent walks away. It turns out that he isn't that far away from his last visit here. At the most, it was fifty miles towards the west. "Hmm." He takes another long sip from his shake, before shutting down the computer. Grabbing what's left of his shake he walks up to the counter. He takes one last giant sip, finishing the shake, and places in on the counter in front of Hayley. "Thanks again." He quickly runs out the café.

Hayley takes the empty glass and begins to rinse it out. However when she looks up, she sees that the other person at the computers, Ethan, is now sitting at the counter. "Hey, Ethan. How are your projects coming along?"

"Finished them a while ago, actually." Much like his shake, Ethan's wardrobe consists of a majority of blue, from his flannel shirt to his coverall jeans. He takes the time to wipe away some of the shake near the edge of his mouth, leaving a small streak of pale blue on his dark skin. "I just decided to stay online and chat with a few friends. But, that's not what I wanted to talk about." Placing down the rest of his shake, he leans towards Hayley and whispers something to her.

"You sure about that, Ethan?" Hayley sees the teenager nod, before he downs the rest of his shake and wipes away the shake mustache left on his upper lip.

"Positive, Hayley." Ethan grabs a napkin and wipes the traces of his shake on his hand off. He rubs the back of his head. "Why would someone we know just come here out of the blue and look up something like that?" He takes a look up at the clock. "Ah, have to head home. Don't want my parents to freak." He quickly rushes outside the door and to his bike.

Hayley can't help but sigh. _Why me?_ She shakes herself out of her lament and begins cleaning Ethan's empty shake glass.

**KHIIR**

Donald finally begins to slow down. He's been running for a while, and no luck has come forth. He never caught up with the Doctor, and Goofy and Sora are nowhere in sight, either. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted him. Probably led us into a trap." Yes, Donald still has his reservations about the Doctor, and this current situation didn't exactly help to change his opinion.

However, he's knocked out of his train of thought with a blow to the back of the head that knocks him off his feet. "WAAUGH! What's the big idea?!" He shakes his head, and sees what it was that hit him. It ends up being a soccer ball. And the culprit who kicked the offending sphere? He was quickly arriving.

"Dude, I'm so sorry about that!" The teenage boy arrives quickly and picks up the ball. "I didn't see you there. You should keep an eye open when out on a soccer field."

"Maybe you should watch where you kick that thing, you big palooka!" Donald begins to nurse the growing goose-egg bruise on the back of his head. Whoever that kid is, he's got one heck of a kick. He'll be feeling that in the morning… and the morning after. He gets an odd look from the teenager. "What?"

"Okay, a few things. First, I'm no… palooka, whatever that means. The name's Connor. Two, I honestly didn't see you." Connor pauses, before taking a true look at Donald. "Although, I really have trouble believing that myself. We don't get that many duck-people around here." He puts a hand through his hair. "And three, why exactly are you here on the soccer field?"

"Ahhh…" To be honest, Donald couldn't think up a lie right then and there. Normally, lying would come to him naturally, but his quick-thinking brain has just shut down. "Well, my friends and I split up, and we ended up getting lost." Well, it wasn't exactly a lie, but it had to work in such a tight pinch.

Conner can't help but scoff. "Dude, even I know to use the Buddy system when traveling. I mean, it's not that hard to forget something like that."

"My name's Donald!" Obviously not enjoying being called 'dude', Donald goes to grab his staff, but stops. He knows that he should still follow the rules of World Order, and starting a fight with someone here wasn't exactly smiled upon. Still, he could get a good lick in or two, if only verbally. "And as for your buddy system, I don't see any buddy here."

"What are you talking about? I have my buddy right…" Connor looks back, and finds that the person he was practicing with was gone. That sort of stuck him as odd, but also uneasy. This normally doesn't mean good things. "Oh. Well, at least…"

"At least what, Mr. McKnight?" Connor stops rigid at the voice and turns around. The voice belonged to none other than the Principal of Reefside High, Ms. Randall. She takes a few steps forward, her arms crossed, and a frown on her face. "I said that you had the field for practice for 30 minutes. Guess how much time passed."

"Uh, 25 minutes?" Connor tries to quip, but Randall's glare withers any other smart comments. "Um, let me change and put stuff away, and I'll get out of your hair." Connor quickly grabs the ball and heads towards one of the school doors.

Donald is about to walk off himself, but Randall's voice makes him stop. "And just where do you think you're going, small-fry?"

"Um, I got a little lost, and I've never been here before." Donald presses together his index fingers sheepishly. He can't help but also shudder under Randall's glare. Just being around her made him feel uneasy, almost sick to his stomach.

It is then that Connor returns, clad in blue jeans and a red tee. Randall looks at Donald, then at Connor, and gets a small smirk. "Mr. McKnight, your new friend's a tourist. Why don't you take him around and show him the sights?" Another glare from her stops Connor from complaining. She smirks as the two of them begin to argue as they reach Connor's car, enter and leave the school grounds. "It's at times like this that I enjoy being in control." She heads towards the school, but pauses. Taking off her glasses, she instead turns to the left, and stands still for a moment. A swirling portal of green energy appears above her, sucking her up and away.

**KHIIR**

Goofy looks around at the multitude of people. Despite his doggish appearance, no one really takes notice. He just wanders around, wondering where the others are. The Doctor and Donald ran off ahead of them, and he didn't see Sora follow him. "Oh, I hope the others are alright." He removes his hat and scratches his head, before putting it back on his head. He continues his gangly walk, looking around at the many buildings. It's during one of these stares that he accidentally runs into someone. Both Goofy and the person fall to the ground, along with the sound of a muted thud and crunch.

"Oh, no! My guitar!" The person's voice was feminine in nature. She gets up and dusts herself off. "Okay, I'm seriously freaking out right now. I've got a gig at the cybercafé and with it busted…" She kneels down and tries to pick up the pieces of her acoustic guitar.

Goofy gets up and begins helping the teenage girl to pick up her guitar. "I'm really sorry about that, miss. I didn't see where I was going." He picks up the neck of the guitar and hands it to her.

The girl takes the neck of the guitar. "Had this for years, and in a moment, Bam. Pretty much good for firewood." She sighs and brings the remains to a dumpster. "Well, Hayley won't be happy about this. Unless I can get the money for a new guitar within the next fifteen minutes, there goes the entertainment for today."

"Well, you can take some of mine." Goofy pulls out some Munny spheres. "I feel really bad about what happened, and I feel this could help out."

"Uh, look. As much as I like the gesture, and I do, trust me, I'm not one for charity. Makes it feel cheap." The girl looks away from Goofy, embarrassed by his offer.

"Well, I have an idea. See, I'm new around here, and I would like some help." Goofy puts the Munny in the girl's hand. "Could you act as a guide, at least for a while? I'm also looking for my friends."

The girl looks at the small orbs that now litter her hand. "I guess. If so, follow me." She heads off to walk, but pauses and looks back. "Oh, by the way, the name's Kira."

"I'm Goofy." The giant dog-being quickly follows Kira, all the while still looking around at the various buildings.

**KHIIR**

"Donald? Goofy? Doctor?" Sora is looking around, calling out the names of his buddies, with the hope that they'll show up soon. It's been over an hour since they split up, and it's beginning to bother him that they haven't regrouped. "Where are they?" Looking around, Sora realizes that he's at a museum. Finding a nearby bench, he sits down on it. "Maybe Donald was right. Maybe this was a trap." Sora sighs. Could he have pegged the Doctor wrong? _No, I know he's trustworthy._

Of course a hand on Sora's shoulder is enough to snap him out of his thinking. "Whoa!" Sora leaps off the bench, looking back at who it was that grabbed his shoulder. He looks at this new person suspiciously. Sure, this guy looks normal enough. The thing that calmed Sora down was the guy's spiky black hair, a small goatee on his chin, khaki slacks and a black long-sleeved shirt. This guy was just screaming Average Joe. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry. I just noticed that you were alone." The man sits down where Sora was, almost as if he was waiting for something. Seeing that Sora doesn't understand, the man continues. "Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just wondering why you're out here by yourself."

"I'm not. I just… I just got lost." Sora just blurts out. "See, I was with a few friends, and we ended up getting separated. That was around an hour ago, though." Sora sighs, and finally sits on the bench as well, albeit a distance from the guy. "I'm worried about them."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Reefside's filled with nice people, and if your friends are around, they'll be fine." The man gets to his feet and checks his watch. "Oh, great. I'm gonna be late. Real smooth, Tommy." The guy rushes off to a nearby black Jeep and jumps in. He pats around for his keys. "I thought I broke that habit back in college." Reaching inside the left pants pocket, he retrieves his keys and puts them into the ignition, cranking the knob and starting up the Jeep. He sets to turn off the parking brake, but pauses. "Hey, you need a ride?" Seeing Sora leap up, the guy opens the passenger's side door.

Sora quickly jumps in and buckles up. "So, where are you headed off to?"

The man chuckles. "Don't laugh, but I have a friend who asked me to help out with a recent excavation that started up nearby. Possibly something about a new dinosaur species he might have uncovered. Doubt it, though."

Sora's head snaps to the side. "Dinosaurs? You serious?" Seeing the man's look, he continues. "I really like dinosaurs. Always did when I was a kid, and I still do. All those different types. Tyrannosaurus, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Raptors, Stegosaurus… Even the Brachiosaurus. Heck, I wouldn't mind meeting a dinosaur once. I bet they're nothing like how they're shown in the movies, though."

The man can't help but give a small smirk when Sora mentions his interest. "That is true. Dinosaurs were actually pretty intelligent creatures if recent studies are to be believed." The two of them continue along the road for a while, until they reach the dig site. "Alright, we're here. Technically, you aren't supposed to be here, but if you stay around the Jeep, things will be fine." They both unbuckle and get out of the vehicle. The man grabs a small sack from the back of the Jeep and shoulders it. "Hey, I never got the chance to get your name."

"Oh, right. Name's Sora." Sora puts his hand out for a handshake.

"Name's Tommy. Tommy Oliver." Tommy takes Sora's hand and gives it a hearty shake, before running over to the dig area.

**KHIIR**

"I still don't see why Maleficent wanted me to head to this world." Pete bumbles around town, pushing folks left and right, before ducking into an alley. "Sure, there's tons of people for the Heartless, but that's about it. She doesn't have any allies here, and it's tough enough trying to find a place for a base of operations. Besides, there's no reason the punk'll be here." He's about to give up hope and return to Maleficent's side when he spies something out of the corner of his eye. "Huh? What's that?" With a few rather bulky steps he reaches a point in front of the object in question; a swirling green vortex. "What is this thing?" He pokes at it with one of his rather chubby fingers, only to be pulled in with a massive yell.

Landing facedown on a cold, hard surface, Pete pushes himself back up to a vertical base. "Okay, that was freaky, and I really don't want to do it again." Dusting himself off, he takes a looks around. Everything he sees is metal. "Hmmm… Looks nice enough, but maybe I should look around more." Pete continues looking around, gazing at each area, which seems to be mostly more of the same. It isn't until he reaches one area that he pauses. "Wowzers, now this is what I call a lab." Vials and beakers lay around on tables, massive machines on each side that he looks towards… and a seat in the back, occupied by a vaguely humanoid shape.

"What are you doing here?" The voice is an odd mix of both primal and sophisticated, viscious and intelligent. The creature stands up from the seat and steps into the light, revealing its visage, an amalgam of dinosaur and human. The dinosaur creature hisses, and a few more of those green vortexes show up, dropping in a group of new and strange dinosaur/man mixes, along with two other people. One is female, clad in leather and wielding a sword, while the other is in the shape of a male, covered from head to toe in black armor and wielding a sword himself. The main dinosaur man speaks again. "Identify yourself."

"Um, look here, buddy, I didn't mean to come here, okay? I just sucked in by one of those green swirly things." Pete tries to explain, putting his hands up in defense. "Besides, I was just curious."

"I suppose you have heard the term about what curiosity does to the cat." Pointing one of his clawed hands towards Pete, the main dinosaur man watches as his minions prepare to attack.

"Now just you hold on a minute, buster." Placing two fingers in his mouth, Pete whistles, summoning a few Heartless. "I ain't going down without a fight." Pete puts up his force field, ready and waiting for the inevitable attack… but it never came. "Hey, what gives?"

"Interesting." The creature steps ahead and looks at one of the Heartless, a simple Shadow, and picks it up in his claws, watching it squirm in his grasp. "This would make for an interesting experiment." He sees the Shadow wiggle free from his grasp and move back towards the group, but not without a few scratches and cuts on its head. "Stand down." Apparently an order, the other dinosaur creatures and the two people ease up. "You've piqued my curiosity with these creatures. Tell me, what brought you here?"

"Well, this place in and of itself was an accident. But my boss ordered me to look around Reefside for this little punk and his friends." Pete looks around, and catches something out of the corner of his eye. He pushes his way past the horde of creatures, including that man clad in the black armor. "That's the punk I was looking for right there!" He points at a screen which shows Sora. Yet, he pauses and looks back at the main creature. "Wait a minute. Just why you following the brat anyway?"

The woman speaks up. "That 'brat' seems to hiding some sort of massive power source that my master wants." She crosses her arms, staring at Pete. "We've been trying to figure out how he can hold something so powerful, or even _what_ that something is."

"Well, I can answer that easy for ya. That brat holds something called the Keyblade. From what my boss told me, and from what I've seen firsthand, it's a pretty powerful magic weapon that only the kid can use, not to mention it can unlock anything." Pete explains to the group. "My head's still pounding after facing off against him."

"So, we cannot use it, unless we force him to do so…" The creature postulates. "Very well then. Elsa, Zeltrax, take the Tyrannodrones and capture him. And if _they_ intervene, eliminate them." Two massive swirling green vortexes suck up Elsa, Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones, while Pete directs the Heartless he summoned to follow the group. The Heartless fade away into the shadows, leaving the cat-being and the human/dinosaur hybrid alone.

"By the by, it's always a good idea to know a partner's name, even if it's for something small-time." Pete strokes his chin, waiting for a reply.

"Very well. I am Mesogog." Mesogog hisses out his name, and turns around to view the battle yet to come.

**KHIIR**

Sora gazes around at the dig site, watching as groups of people slowly dig up the earth around them, trying to find any sign of a supposed new dinosaur species. So far, there's been nothing but dirt and rocks that's been found. Sighing, he leans against the Jeep, and notices something partially buried underneath the ground. He dusts a little bit off of the object. "What is it? He begins to push dirt away from the side of the object and slowly pulling it up. He finally gets it free from the ground, and looks at it, having to hold it in both of his hands due to its size. "Cool, a dinosaur egg." Looking around, he places it in Tommy's Jeep and wipes his hands free of the dust. He honestly wanted to yell out what he found, but decided against it. Didn't want to seem like a burden to the others.

It's then that he feels the wind kick up, but from two different directions. He looks around, and sees two swirling vortexes appear. Two groups of… things drop from the vortexes, led by a male in armor from one, and a leather-wearing female on the other. By that time, the other people have run off, hearing the hisses and growls of the creatures. The leaders of the group walk towards Sora.

"This is the boy? I fail to see why he's so special." The man in armor unsheathes his sword and continues to walk.

"You and I both know appearances can be deceiving, Zeltrax." The woman walks ahead of Zeltrax, reaching Sora first. "My master would like to have a word with you. And don't bother trying to escape."

"Um, and what if I don't want to talk to your boss?" Sora gulps as the woman unsheathes her sword and points it at him. "Ah, okay." Sora gets ready to summon his Keyblade, but is interrupted when he sees one of the Tyrannodrones fly towards the woman, who leaps over it and lands soundly on her feet. Sora looks over to see Tommy standing there, surrounded by the creatures, and currently fighting one off. "Whoa."

Zeltrax notices Tommy, and grips his sword tighter. "You can deal with the boy, Elsa. He's mine!" He then runs towards Tommy, yelling at the top of his lungs before leaping up, his sword extended.

Tommy is barely able to dodge the definitely lethal attack, leaping away, only to be surrounded by the Tyrannodrones once again. "Not good." Bringing up his left wrist next to his face, he pulls back on the sleeve, revealing a small metal bracelet with a black gem embedded within it. "Guys, you better get to the nearby dig site, quick." He barely dodges another attack from a Tyrannodrone, before going back to fighting. He's able to knock a few more of the minions out, but he doesn't react quickly enough to Zeltrax grabbing him by the shirt and being thrown into the side of his own Jeep.

"Tommy!" Sora runs over to Tommy's side, helping him up. "You okay?" To his relief, Tommy nods.

"You should stop worrying about him, and worry about yourself, boy." Elsa's blade glows with energy. "Now, come with us, and we'll be sure to leave Tommy alone." She glares at Sora, almost in arrogance.

"Forget it!" Sora finally has had enough, and brings out his Keyblade, in the shape of the Gull Wing. "You'd better leave before someone gets hurt." One of the Tyrannodrones leaps at Sora, only to be swatted back, sparks flying out from its chest.

"GAH!" A stream of lightning shoots out from Elsa's sword, only to be countered by a casting of Sora's Reflect magic, blasting it back towards the enemies. The Tyrannodrones and thrown back by the reflected blast, but Elsa and Zeltrax merely duck and block the attack, only showing scuffs. However, the group of enemies soon re-gather, and Elsa sneers at Sora. "Is that it?"

Sora takes Elsa's challenge face-on, and leaps towards the group of enemies. Another Tyrannodrone leaps up to attack Sora, but the creature is hit by a full aerial combo from the Keyblader, which sends the creature flying back into a tree. Before he lands, he cast Fira, creating a pair of rings of flame around himself. He looks around to see the lesser enemies take a step back, their gestures showing possible shock. He quickly follows up with a Blizzara spell directed towards Zeltrax, who was ready to attack Tommy once again.

Zeltrax quickly retracts his arm, seeing that his arm was encased in pure ice. Slamming the frozen arm against Tommy's Jeep, he frees it from the freeze, before glaring back at Sora. "I will not have some child prevent me from having my revenge!" Roaring, Zeltrax rushes towards Sora, ignoring any semblance of Mesogog's orders. He swings his sword, only to have Sora block it with his Keyblade. Using his strength, Zeltrax pushes Sora back up against a tree. "Don't cross me, boy, or you won't live long enough to regret it."

"The name's Sora!" Sora pushes Zeltrax away by kicking him in the chest plate. He prepares for another attack, but is blown back and onto the ground by Elsa's Sword Lightning attack.

"You're losing your touch, Zeltrax. Besides, you know very well that we need the boy alive, and I refuse to have you ruin this." Elsa picks up Sora by one of his arms, only to be propelled forward by a Thunder spell, losing her grip on the Keyblader. "What the…" She looks over… to see Donald, holding his staff outward. "Great, just what I need. A Lightning-slinging entrée." She brings herself back to her feet.

Sora's eyes refocus as he feels that familiar feeling of a Cura spell being cast. Knowing that he didn't do it, he's pleasantly surprised to see Donald standing over him. "Donald!" Grabbing the mallard's extended hand, he get's back to his feet. "When did you get here?"

"Just did, and not by myself!" He nods back towards the Jeep, where there is another car now parked, its make sporty and its color red. Over by Tommy is Connor, Kira and Ethan, along with Goofy and the Doctor. "Goofy! Get over here!" Seeing his canine ally join, the three heroes are reunited, and their focus going back towards their enemies.

Elsa and Zeltrax call the Tyrannodrones over to them, and prepare to call for the next attack, but pause when they see small black blobs scurry in between the bad guys and the good guys. Being the only one to do so, Elsa smirks once again. "Looks like you have your own troubles." The dark blob begins to grow up from the ground, and take shape.

"Heartless!" Sora looks back and sees that Tommy is talking with Connor, Kira and Ethan, while the Doctor moves towards the heroes as well. "Doctor, get them out of here. We'll handle this."

"Not alone, you aren't." Tommy steps up to Sora's side, along with the three teenagers. "You helped me out, so let me repay the offer." He looks down at Connor, who nods. "Let's do this."

"You guys ready?" Connor calls out. Tommy, Kira and Ethan acknowledge it with a call of 'ready'. The small metal bracelets on their left arms change, becoming small mechanical devices. The four cry out, "Dino Thunder, Power Up!", and activate the devices. A bright flash of light shines out from the four of them, which subsides a few moments later. However, the four are changed, and are now clad in full-body costumes and helmets. They are now the Dino Thunder Power Rangers.

"ATTACK!" Elsa has reached her limit with all that has transpired. As if this kid wasn't enough of a problem, add onto that those three others, AND the Rangers… She knew that they were going to be defeated, but just giving up right away would result in a worse punishment than staying to fight before retreating.

Obviously, the Tyrannodrones follow Elsa's command and begin attacking the heroes, but for some reason, the Heartless do not. The majority of them just stand there, idly waiting for something, which is rather different from their normal nature. Some fidget, some look around at the place. Finally, one of the Heartless, the very same Shadow that Mesogog picked up earlier, leaps up and attacks, but his target is surprisingly not Sora or any of the heroes. Instead, it leaps onto a nearby Tyrannodrone. A small swirling ring of dark energy covers the ground on which the two are, which grows to a bubble which covers the two enemies. The bubble subsides, showing the Shadow is none the worse for wear. But the Tyrannodrone has taken on a far darker tint to its shell, almost pitch black, and the Heartless crest is on both the head and chestplate. It has become the first Tyrano Heartless

This doesn't go un-noticed by either party. The heroes are a bit worried, because they don't know what to expect from this new type of Heartless. Both Elsa and Zeltrax sees the heroes' apprehension, and the look on Elsa's face is one of pure maliciousness. "Well, it looks like we have ourselves a winner there. Let's get a few more up and running." Obviously getting the cue, the Heartless leap up and latch onto a few more Tyrannodrones, and the process repeats, creating more Tyrano Heartless. Now for every two Tyrannodrones, there is a Tyrano Heartless.

"Now what?!" Donald cries out. Trying to deal with the Heartless is tough enough, but now those creatures are using other enemies as stock for new Heartless? This is becoming unfair, and they know it. Then again, when did the Heartless ever play fair?

"We fight." Both Tommy and Sora say this, and the others in the group, the Doctor included, nod their heads in agreement. Each of them draw their respective weapon (or in the Doctor's case, utensil), and stand ready for the enemies to resume their assault. They don't wait long, for the two villains give the command, and the battle resumes.

Donald and Connor, in his Red Ranger uniform, are the first to do battle with the new Heartless. Both have their staffs at the ready as the first Tyrano Heartless strikes. The blow was both fast and powerful, but both the heroes luckily dodge out of the way, only to do battle with their respective enemies. Donald freezes some Heartless with his Blizzard spell, and quickly follows up with smacking them with his Staff, the Shaman Relic, which causes them to shatter and dissipate. Connor puts the Tyrano-Staff away and goes for his ThunderMax Saber. He blasts back a few Tyrannodrones with the Blaster form, before turning it into a small saber, which he uses to cut through the plating on them. Amazingly though, the Tyrano Heartless stands back, watching and waiting for the right time to strike.

Meanwhile, Goofy and Ethan, in his guise of the Blue Ranger, are up back to back with both Tyrannodrones and Heartless surrounding them, including a Tyrano Heartless. Goofy has his Chain Gear shield ready for battle, while Ethan has both his Tricera-Shield and ThunderMax Saber at the ready as well. A few Heartless leap up onto the Tricera-Shield, trying to knock it away from Ethan and make him more vulnerable, but Goofy draws them away with a Goofy Tornado attack. The Tyrannodrones now move in for their attack, but are pushed back by a wide sweeping arc of a swung Tricera-Shield. A few more fry to get closer, but end up getting hit by the blaster mode of the ThunderMax. As with Connor and Donald, the Tyrano Heartless just stands back.

Meanwhile, we see that Kira and the Doctor are grouped together, with Kira in her Yellow Ranger outfit. Kira has her Ptera-Grips prepped for battle, while the Doctor has his Sonic Screwdriver in a hand, his thumb on the switch to activate it.

"Say, Kira, those Tyrannodrones, they have any mechanical components?" Seeing the Yellow Ranger nod, the Doctor gives a knowing nod in return, and twists a small knob on the device before activating it. His little switch did the trick, as the Tyrannodrones in their group twitch and kneel down, grabbing their heads in pain, leaving Kira free to attack the Heartless. As with the previous groups, there is a Tyrano Heartless standing back, watching and waiting.

This leaves Tommy as the Black Ranger and Sora, except their group consist of nothing but Tyrano Heartless. "Looks like trouble." Tommy has his Brachio-Staff at the ready, noticing that their opponents are eager to fight.

"This is easy stuff. Try fighting a thousand Heartless by yourself." Sora tightly grips his Gull Wing Keyblade, waiting for the first attack.

One of the Tyrano Heartless finally acts, dashing ahead, one clawed arm cocked back for a powerful swipe. Tommy blocks the swipe it the Brachio-Staff, leaving it open to a swipe from Sora. Normally, this would have dome major damage to it, but due to what it was before becoming a Heartless, it merely flies back, sparks shooting out from its chest, but still capable of fighting. The other Tyrano Heartless now leap in, their clawed appendages swiping at the two heroes.

Both Tommy and Sora get the same idea, and leap out from the center of the swarm. Sora quickly follows up with a Thunder Spell, shocking many of the Heartless and causing them to twitter and twitch fiercely. Tommy follows up by flipping the staff upside-down, and shooting out a laser from the tail that juts out from the bottom of the staff. The laser cuts through two of the Heartless, causing them to dissipate and release their hearts.

However, their attempted continuation of their attacks are hampered by Elsa and Zeltrax, who retaliate with their respective energy attacks (Elsa with her Sword Lightning, Zeltrax firing a beam from both his helmet and his hand.). Their combined attacks knock Sora and Tommy back away from the fight, which catches the attention of the other heroes, who quickly run to their side. "This is over for all of you." The remaining Heartless, Tyrannodrones and Tyrano Heartless group together for one last attack.

The Rangers pull out their respective weapons, and a call to "Put them together" is spoken. The Ptera-Grips are placed on either side of the Tricera-Shield, and the Tyrano-Staff is folded so that the head is above the shield, and the tail is below it, creating the Z-Rex Blaster. The Blaster is behind held by Connor, Kira and Ethan, and is pointed directly at the massive group of enemies. With a cry of "Fire!" the blaster is triggered, releasing a massive ball of energy which obliterates the entire group of enemies, leaving nothing but chunks of enemy on the ground and smoke in the air.

Clenching her fist, Elsa now charges recklessly into the fray, ready to take down the Rangers and their allies by herself if necessary. In her berserk fury, she is able to knock Donald and Goofy by herself, and knocking the majority of the Rangers silly before rushing headlong towards Sora. All semblance of rational thought is gone, as she swipes at Sora's head with her sword, which the Keyblader is lucky enough to duck underneath. However, she is stopped by a hand clad in black on her shoulder. Without a second thought, she takes a rather powerful swipe behind her.

It turns out that Zeltrax was the one that latched onto Elsa's shoulder, and her subsequent attack sends him back a few feet, with a massive amount of sparks shooting out from his chest, and now in a kneeling position, clutching his chest with one arm. "Elsa! What are you doing? You said we needed the boy alive!" Zeltrax now has sword directed at Elsa. "Mesogog wouldn't approve of this!"

Those words snap Elsa out from her raging state. However, that was enough time for Sora to leap back from the battle and regroup with Tommy, while the Doctor tends to Donald and Goofy and the other Rangers.

Zeltrax gets back to his feet and walks back over to Elsa's side, his sword still drawn and ready for battle, but his chest is still sparking. "Give up the boy, Rangers, and we'll be on our way." Seeing Elsa nod, Zeltrax grips his blade tighter. Damaged or not, he still had a mission to do.

"Forget it, Zeltrax. There's no way you're gonna get him, not while I'm still around." Tommy grips his Brachio-Staff tighter. He knew very well that these was the final moments of the battle, and as such, would be the most fierce. Both sides were weakened from battle and seething over the events that occurred, but they both still had enough for one last desperate attack. All this final battle needs is a single action to trigger it.

"Then allow us to be the ones to part you two!" With that, Elsa and Zeltrax rush ahead. Sora and Tommy react accordingly, and rush towards the two villains. Their instruments of war clash, and the sight was one of unbridled fury. Tommy and Zeltrax thrown their all into their attempted strikes only to have the opponent block it and attempt a retaliation. Sora and Elsa also share this action/reaction fight, with blows blocked and blows missed by mere inches.

A quick thought slips into the minds of both Tommy and Sora, who give a quick glance at each other before they both kick their respective opponents and push themselves back. Their actions quickly synchronize, so that both are doing the exact same thing. Both Keyblade and Brachio-Staff rotate in an arc, which in turn creates two perfectly similar spheres of power. "ENERGY ORB!" With that cry, the Energy Orbs are launched and collide with the enemies. Energy cascades out from the collisions, which are soon followed with decent-sized explosions which send Elsa and Zeltrax back, sprawled on the ground.

The two villains get back to their feet, shakily, and glare at the heroes. "Don't think this is over." With Zeltrax's statement, the two are pulled away by a pair of swirling green vortexes.

Sora looks over at Tommy before landing on his keister, exhausted from the battle. "That… was tough." He glances back over, and sees Tommy de-morph out of his Black Ranger form. "Didn't realize you were a hero."

"It's not something I like to broadcast." Tommy walks over, and grabbing Sora's hand, pulls him up to his feet. "Let's get out of the open. Come on. I'll explain everything once we get there." With that, they walk back to Tommy's Jeep, seeing that the other Rangers have de-morphed after the battle and are waiting, along with a revived Donald and Goofy.

**KHIIR**

"Wow, that's that what I call a battle." Needless to say Pete was impressed with what just transpired. However, Mesogog is not sharing with Pete's enthusiasm.

"Even with your Heartless, this proved to be a disaster!" Hissing, he slams his clawed hands into a metal table, denting it, before swiping to the side, tossing beakers and vials off the table. "Those two will have to suffer the consequences for failure." Hearing the sound of his Invisiportals, he quickly turns around and fires a beam from the crest on his head towards the returning Zeltrax and Elsa, causing them to go to their knees and clutch their heads in pain. "I grow weary of your failures. Continue, and I will destroy you myself!"

Pete steps back slightly, obviously intimidated by what is happening. This guy was just as bad, if not worse, than Maleficent! It isn't until he reaches back and feels around that he realizes that there was someone else there… He quickly turns around to find Maleficent standing there. He gulps, fearing what Maleficent would to him. However, her attention isn't on Pete, but on Mesogog's actions.

"Ah, most impressive, Mesogog. Instill fear in your own underlings by use of power." Seeing that Mesogog had ceased his attack, she finally steps out from the shadows from whence she stationed herself. Seeing that he is still furious, she holds her staff out, which has a small amount of green flame, billowing from its tip. "Attack me, and you will lost a potential ally."

"So, you must be the oaf's superior, Maleficent." Mesogog quickly shifts from violent psycho mode to intrigued observer mode. "Considering you did not arrive by way of Invisiportal, that has brought you a moment of my time. Be quick."

"Simple enough. Pete was here initially to scout for more potential Heartless, but when you were mentioned, Mesogog, I decided to visit myself." Maleficent steps forward, her robes billowing. "Not many beings catch my interest, but you, Mesogog, have proven to be a rather impressive potential ally against the forces of Light. I offer you a chance to rule not just this world, but many others." She holds a hand out, in a gesture of offering. "What say you to my offer?"

"You think I seek mere control? No, far from it. I seek to rid this pitiful world if the very stink of human, and bring about a second age of dinosaurs." Mesogog gazes at his claw before gazing back at the dark witch. "As for your offer…" He grabs hold of her open hand with his own. "I accept."

Maleficent can't help but laugh, while Mesogog can't help but hiss, and their underlings can't help but flinch.

**KHIIR**

Finally, after all this time, Chapter 11 is complete. It took some doing, but I feel this is THE defining chapter up to this point. The action was great, the story worked itself out, and to boot, it is the longest chapter I have written yet, clocking in at over eight thousand words over seventeen pages. It took a lot longer than expected, but that's because I had a myriad of things to deal with in life, not to mention Writer's Block.

Thanks must go to Disenchanted310 for editing this beast. _Mucho _thanks!

So, as per usual, comment, review, critique, whatever, and before I leave you, I'll prep you with the name of the next chapter: 'Nasty White'. Enjoy!


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